WALKING UP 163 



ground, and have joined the fresh birds there if 

 possible. You will probably come upon him as you 

 walk this strip, but if you do not the dog-man will 

 take up the search behind you, laying on his dogs at 

 the marked spot where he fell, and whatever pains it 

 may cost to find him, at least the progress of the line 

 will not be delayed, nor the fresh ground disturbed 

 by-the search. A winged bird will invariably run away 

 from the line, and almost always down the drill to the 

 fence. The scent of him keeps alive much longer 

 than in the case of a dead bird, so that there is no 

 great reason for hurry. You will also observe that a 

 dog will always hunt closer and more rapidly with no 

 one near him than surrounded by a number of people, 

 of whom several will very likely be carrying dead game, 

 and thereby confusing the scent, The scent of a hare 

 or rabbit is much stronger than that of a partridge, 

 and no dog can be expected to stick true to the scent 

 of the bird, when there are men dragging either of 

 these, freshly killed and bleeding, through the cover, 

 within a few feet of him. 



I had the shooting of several thousand acres of 

 very good partridge ground in Perthshire given to me 

 years ago. I took the same eight beaters out every 

 day, and by paying them a little more than the market 

 rate of wages, found no difficulty in getting them 



