66 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PARTRIDGE 



CHAPTER VII 



POACHING PARTRIDGES 



THE netting of partridges appears to the average 

 Englishman to be quite as heinous a crime as it would 

 be voted by any French baron ; yet there was a time, 

 and that not so very long ago, when any county 

 magnate would have cheerfully lent his presence to 

 the pastime of dragging the fields for these birds. 

 Such a trifling matter as the expense of making a net 

 for taking game was sure to be recorded in the 

 accounts of any ancient house whose head cared for 

 ' sport.' A single entry from the accounts of the 

 Lestranges of Hunstanton may suffice for an ex- 

 ample. Among the expenses of 'the Mill, Bac- 

 house, Brewhouse, and Kechyn ' for the year 

 1533-34, an entry stands: ' Itm pd the iij d day 

 of November for ij Ib of twyn for the ptriche nett 

 jQ s. xd.' It is clear, therefore, that our forefathers 

 did not content themselves with taking game with 

 their hawks and crossbows, but had recourse to more 



