804 MANUAL OF MODERN FARRIERY. 



to the side of a bank, and lie in the sun, abstaining from 

 either eating or running. At the commencement of the 

 season, more particularly when the weather is dry, the scent 

 sinks, and when this takes place there is no use in attempt- 

 ing to find game ; it is only a useless waste of labour to the 

 sportsman as well as his dogs. Besides, should he hit upon 

 the resort of the covey at mid-day, and they are either shot 

 at or flushed, they will take wing, and in all probability 

 go off to a great distance, and may spoil the day's sport. 

 Partridges generally feed and sleep in separate places. 

 Where food is plentiful it is not uncommon for them to 

 remain all night. At day-break they call, and when the 

 covey have congregated, they take flight to the stubbles, 

 or other feeding-ground ; and they will remain there 

 all day if it afibrd sufficient shelter, unless .they are 

 disturbed. If the weather is very dry and sultry, they fre- 

 quently resort to potatoe or turnip-fields. In the evening 

 they again call, and fly to their usual sleeping quarters. 

 During the time of crying they are too restless to enable 

 sportsmen to approach near enough to shoot at them. Two 

 good and stanch dogs are sufficient for an individual in par- 

 tridge-shooting. 



Partridge-shooting commences on the first day of Septem- 

 ber, and ends on the thirty-first day of January. 



The partridge is so well known as to require no particular 

 description of it. It is found in every part of Great Britain 

 and Ireland, where corn is cultivated, but never locates in 

 districts where there is no arable land, consequently is never 

 met with on the barren mountains of the North. In Scotland 

 the partridge, the grouse, and the ptarmigan, each have their 

 districts : the first is only found in the glens or valleys, and 

 level tracks ; the second on the lower hills or mountain- 

 sides, while the latter are only met with on the summits ot 



