BY MANY HANDS 151 



young together, when the corn was cut, but all in too 

 advanced a stage of decomposition to admit of a post 

 mortem. 



In summer, when a spell of dry weather checks the 

 growth of barley and wheat, the ground becomes covered 

 with a tangled mass of weed locally known as ' mountain 

 flax.' Before flowering, the buds of the flax are covered 

 with a gummy substance, not unlike that found on the 

 buds of the horse-chestnut. At this time it is most 

 dangerous to game. It was very bad with us in the dry 

 spell of July 1910, and it was noticeable how young birds 

 grew darker in colour in and around the fields where the 

 flax grew thickest. 



There was a brood of young pheasants, 13 in number, 

 which flourished in the corner of a barley-field till the 

 beginning of July. They then began to grow darker in 

 colour, and could only fly with great effort when flushed. 

 Some were picked up dead, and were found to have their 

 feathers all stuck together, just as though they had been 

 dipped in treacle. When last seen, only two young birds 

 remained with the hen, and their fate was uncertain. In 

 many other places, where the flax was thick, broods were 

 seen in the same condition, and several young birds picked 

 up dead. Some old hen pheasants looked quite black, 

 but no old birds were known to have died from this cause. 

 Though pheasants only were observed in this condition, 

 partridges on the same ground must doubtless have also 

 suffered. As soon as the flax flowers the gum disappears, 

 and the surviving birds resume their normal colour. 



Each beat-keeper can manage 1500 acres in this country ; 

 foxes give him a lot of extra work. 



I would say that a brace to every 6 or 7 acres in this 

 country is a good stock. 



In old days when partridges were walked up and shot 

 most days in September, the annual bags were much the 

 same as they are now, when two weeks' driving takes place 

 in the year one day on each beat. 



