202 PARTRIDGES 



tinue to shoot them at sight, as every 

 gamekeeper used to do but a few years 

 ago. A clear case of gamecide should 

 invariably be established against the in- 

 dividual before the life of the handsome 

 and useful ' windhover ' be taken. 



The merlin can only be looked on as 

 an enemy to game in the summer, for 

 a full-grown partridge is quarry beyond 

 his reach. As this diminutive falcon 

 always nests on moorland, he may well 

 be spared on partridge ground, for he 

 will be gone long before any young 

 partridges are hatched. 



Of the owls, the short-eared species 

 is the only one that hunts by day, and 

 would beyond all doubt play havoc among 

 young partridges were it not, for the 

 most part, only a winter visitor to this 

 country. Good evidence should be forth- 

 coming as to its depredations among full- 

 grown partridges before destroying it on 

 ground where it does not breed. 



No tawny, long-eared, or barn owl 

 should ever be killed without direct 



