82 PRANK SCHLEY'S PARTRIDGE AND PHEASANT SHOOTING. 



WITHHOLDING SCENT. 



piEEE are many sportsmen who believe that the 

 American Parti'idge has the power of withholding 

 its scent, on being hotl}^ pursued by its enemies, be- 

 W^ cause the very best of dogs, at times, cannot discover 

 Partridges, even after they have been accurately marked 

 down in places where they have been seen to settle. Yery 

 often on flushing a covey of Partridges, they fly ofii" all well 

 together, and after having been accurately marked down, 

 and the full covey amounting j^erhaps to fifteen or twenty 

 birds, have been seen to settle at a particular place, it fre- 

 quently happens that not more than two-thirds of the 

 birds in the covey can be flushed up again, at the place 

 where they have been seen to settle, and the dogs fail to 

 find and point them, even after having been closely hunted 

 aljout the spot. This is a great mystery to many sportsmen, 

 wh}^ all the birds in the covey cannot be found at the place 

 where they alighted ; and many a good dog has been un- 

 justly lashed for not finding the birds under these circum- 

 stances. vSome sportsmen account for it by supposing the 

 birds are still at the spot where they alighted, in a state of 

 (piietude, withholding their scent from the dog, which pre- 

 vents the dog fx'om finding them. Other sportsmen ac- 

 count for it bj' supposing the birds are still at the place 

 where they alighted, but being frightened, terror checks 

 the secretions which are usually emitted by the bird, and 

 which renders the dog unable to scent them. I believe nei- 

 ther; my observation and experience have taught me to look 

 \\\)tm the cause, and account for it, in an entirel}' difi^ereut 

 way. I unhesitatingly say, that I do not believe the Ameri- 

 can Partridge possesses the power of retaining its scent from 

 the doir, nor do I believe excessive terror checks the eftlu- 



