424 BIRDS OP NORFOLK. 



I had the good fortune to make my debut as a sports- 

 man in one of the midland counties, where, at that 

 time, the improvements in modern husbandry were 

 unknown. Well do I remember the tall reaped stubbles, 

 where the birds laid closer than in turnips now-a- 

 days; how beautifully the dogs worked, and how 

 easy it seemed to an old hand to kill double shots 

 to a steady point. Many a weary and fruitless round 

 was saved by the " quarterings" of the staunch old 

 pointer ; and when at length, arrested by the " tainted 

 gale," his stiffening limbs bespoke " attention," his 

 attitude as plainly showed the exact position of the 

 game. In the turnips, also, the " broadcast" system 

 rendered flight more easy to the birds than running, 

 and with no red-legs to teach them vagrant habits, the 

 coveys laid well to a steady f( point." Then, to crown 

 all as a paradise to sportsmen of the old school, there 

 were plenty of little " spinnies" at the corners of the 

 fields and thick double hedgerows so prodigal of space 

 that, but for the almost impenetrable undergrowth, a 

 donkey and cart might have been driven easily between 

 the fences. Woe to the unlucky covey marked down 

 in such strongholds, with a cool shot on either side 

 and a dog well up to his work. 



That those who were accustomed in the "good 

 old days" to kill partridges after this fashion, more 



vol. ii., 2nd ed., p. 376.] Of more recent and similar exploits, 

 I may also mention, on good authority, that the present Earl of 

 Leicester in a match with his brother, the Hon. E. Coke, killed 

 one hundred and thirty-seven brace, in one day, at Warham, and 

 the latter one hundred and one, on an adjoining farm. His lord- 

 ship has also killed in a short day at Egmere, one hundred and 

 three brace to his own gun. In September, 1858, ten or twelve 

 guns divided into two parties on portions of the Holkham estate, 

 also shot the extraordinary number of four hundred and fourteen 

 brace in two days. 



