214 LETTERS TO YOUNG SHOOTERS 



you should do, you disturb the birds off their feeding 

 grounds, and thus drive them back to cover. Re- 

 member, too, the finer the weather the earlier in the 

 afternoon will partridges commence to draw out of 

 cover to feed on the stubbles. 



If you are anxious to make a really good bag of 

 partridges when walking them up it is of importance 

 you should know beforehand in what direction the 

 birds are likely to fly ; in fact, what cover they make 

 for to hide in when they are driven from ground they 

 feed or rest on. 



Partridges that feed at one end of a large stubble 

 may, when disturbed, seek shelter in quite a different 

 field of roots to what those at its other end habitually 

 fancy. A covey of partridges will always haunt one 

 field more than another, and they will nearly always 

 fly into the same cover, when driven from the open, 

 or when they seek rest, or shelter from the sun. 



A young shooter should, therefore, take trouble to 

 find out the natural flight of the partridges on his 

 land. He can do this by walking the stubble fields, 

 or any land on which the birds feed, of a fine evening 

 when they are in the open. He will soon learn their 

 line of flight, and hence form a good idea of the direc- 

 tion in which they should be driven, and what cover 

 they are likely to be found in, when he is out 

 shooting. 



