44 REMIXISCEXCES OF A SPORTSiLlX. 



stubbles, and are particularly fond of pulse ; indeed, all 

 the birds in the neighbourliood will generally be found 

 in a field newly sown with pea and tare. They are 

 easily driven together, and I once had them so well 

 managed that I bagged two brace at two shots. 



Sportsmen in general tlislike having the red-legged 

 partridge on their estates * ; for, from their great pro- 

 pensity for running, they are sure to spoil young dogs ; 

 therefore every means are taken to keep them down, 

 or to get rid of them altogether ; and to accomplish 

 this they should be closely pursued after a fall of 

 snow, when there are several inches of it on the 

 ground ; they then quite lose their self-possession, and 

 immediately take to the hedges and lie very close. 

 Fifteen brace have been known to be killed in one day by 

 a pair of guns. They may sometimes be seen sitting on 

 gates or walls, sunning themselves, but they are never 

 known to perch on trees, like the American spruce- 

 partridge. WTien they find themselves surrounded by 

 horses and hounds they become so alarmed that you may 

 knock some down with your hunting whip. They have 

 the character of being very pugnacious, and driving the 

 grey partridge from the fields they frequent. When 

 there are several guns out, the best way is to enter a 

 field at different points and press the birds towards the 

 centre ; some of them will lie or go off within shot to 

 almost a certainty. A gentleman once saw an entire 



* A friend of mine who had just returned from visiting a gentleman 

 residing a few miles from Brandon in Norfolk, told me a few days 

 ago that he complained much of the annoyance of the red-legged par- 

 tridge, which had increased so much as to have nearly driven away from 

 his estate the grey partridge, the former being so pugnacious ; in conse- 

 quence of this he had given orders to his gamekeepers to destroy their 

 nests, and even to shoot them in the breeding season. 



