PRESERVATION 127 



no way inconveniences the bird. The 

 ground on which Hungarian partridges 

 are to be turned out must be cleared of 

 old birds first, or the foreigners will be 

 driven away as soon as they are set at 

 liberty. When the birds are being freed, 

 the pen should be left open at one end 

 and food scattered close by for a day or 

 two. On no account should any but 

 good healthy birds be released ; every one 

 that shows any signs of being in poor 

 health or condition must be inexorably 

 destroyed. 



Hungarians have no peculiar qualities 

 in influencing a stock of partridges ; a 

 change of blood from ten miles away is 

 as efficacious as one from a thousand. 

 Their sole merit as compared with British 

 partridges lies in the fact that they are 

 readily procurable in a wild state from 

 reliable sources. To import Hungarians 

 in times of plenty is rather like taking 

 coals to Newcastle ; it is only after a 

 succession of bad nesting seasons that 

 their use seems in any way desirable. 



