172 PARTRIDGES 



our English birds, and make the stock less capable of 

 withstanding wet summers, like those of late years. 



To keep our stock healthy we change eggs from one 

 part of the estate to another, and also with eggs from a 

 distance. 



Vermin. Foxes are strictly preserved here, which 

 means a heavy annual loss of both partridge and pheasant 

 nests. Where there are a fair quantity of rabbits, foxes 

 do not trouble the nests quite so much. To guard against 

 foxes, we wire in the young covers with 6-foot netting, 

 sprinkle human urine, paraffin oil, and tar near the nests, 

 and leave sprung traps, old and broken traps set, or iron 

 hoops lying close by. Some of these remedies have been 

 successful at times. 



Hedgehogs are our worst vermin, eating eggs and even 

 attacking sitting birds from behind, though I do not think 

 they meddle with young birds much. Rooks, cats, and 

 rats are the next worst enemies. The brown owl some- 

 times plays havoc among pheasants just taking to roost ; 

 and in this district there is a Dutch or small owl, nearly 

 as bad as any hawk, flying about in the daytime, and 

 doing much harm among the young partridges. The 

 kestrels are quite as bad as sparrow-hawks with young 

 birds. 



Pheasants are mischievous if too plentiful on partridge 

 ground, laying in and taking possession of partridges' 

 nests, defacing nests, and opening them out for rooks, etc., 

 to find. Turkeys on farms are sometimes troublesome in 

 the same way. Hares and rabbits give much annoyance 

 unless kept well within limits. French partridges I 

 consider good for nothing, neither for change of blood 

 nor for sport. 



We feed our partridges in snow and continued frost ; 

 also on ground where green crops or pasture-lands are 

 scarce. 



Our birds sometimes suffer from gapes, scouring, and 

 red tick on the head. I believe basic slag to be bad for 



