118 PARTRIDGES 



with the desire to let off his gun as often 

 as possible. 



The French system is another, and for 

 many reasons preferable, method of arti- 

 ficially increasing a stock, but it is only 

 applicable in natural partridge country, 

 and therefore could not always be sub- 

 stituted for hand-rearing. This system 

 was devised by the Due de Montebello, 

 and was borrowed by us from the 

 Continent, where it has been employed 

 with marked success. Briefly, the pro- 

 cedure is as follows : 



A large enclosure is first planned out; if 50 

 brace of birds were to be penned, a square of 75 

 yards would be enclosed. This pen must have 

 plenty of rough cover, such as partridges affect 

 in a wild state, both inside and out. The site 

 should be dry, sheltered, and little liable to 

 disturbance, quiet being essential to the welfare 

 of the birds. The pen is constructed of wire- 

 netting carried on stout standards 6 feet or more 

 in height, roofed with twine-net of a small mesh, 

 and has all its corners rounded off. The inmates, 

 presumably Hungarians, are turned into this 

 enclosure, cock and hen in equal numbers, about 

 the end of October, with their wings brailed. By 

 January they should be well acclimatized, and 



