174 STOCK BIRDS. 



pretty sure to follow its example. Should there be two 

 jjigare in company, and each provided with a stalking- 

 horse, matters are greatly facilitated. With the aid of 

 my keejier," so the Count tells us in conclusion, " I one 

 autumn thus caj)tured upwards of four himdred Partridges,* 

 and this notwithstanding we always set at liberty the old 

 birds and a pair of the young ones." 



The Partridges thus taken in the "E-yssja," or in 

 the other nets described — and intended to be kept alive 

 as a supply for the table during the winter, or as breedin<? 

 stock to be turned out again in the spring — are confined 

 in a loft or other suitable place, the floor of which should 

 be strewed with coarse sand. If there be a glazed 

 window, it ought to be covered over with sacking, whicli 

 partially excludes the light, and prevents them from 

 Hying against the glass and injuring themselves. Some, 

 indeed, to guard against a similar danger, hang matting 

 at a little distance from the walls. The birds are fed 

 on l}arley, and other kinds of grain, and are constantly 

 supplied with fresh water and juniper bushes; as they 

 iiot only nestle under them, but feed on their berries. • 

 They should never be without a heap of sand in which 

 to dust themselves. 



The winter over and the snow gone, such of the 

 captives as have escaped the cook are turned out in 

 pairs in the places where it is wished they should locate 

 themselves. Various expedients are adopted to prevent 

 their Avandcring. Some, we are told, smear their bodies 

 with a composition of ashes, which disables them for 

 several days from flying ; others pluck out one or two of 

 the pinion feathers to prevent them from straying; whilst 



* When on a visit some years ago to the Count, at his fiae estate of 

 Bbi-riuge Kloster, in Scania, his keeper told me that on one occasion 

 his master captured no loss than sixty-two Partridges at a single haul of the 

 " Ryssja." 



