226 PARTRIDGES 



Even without keeping a regular kennel 

 and following this beautiful sport in ortho- 

 dox manner, most owners of partridge- 

 shooting would still find a steady pointer 

 a useful addition to their kennels. On 

 big days the dog would not be of very 

 much use, though even then one cannot 

 see why he should not be employed to 

 save the beaters from walking over birds 

 in thick cover ; while on all ' marauding ' 

 days, when two or three guns and as 

 many keepers constitute the whole party, 

 the presence of a good dog makes the 

 work very much easier, provided that 

 the coveys are not unduly wild. Perhaps 

 a single covey is flushed and marked 

 down in a big turnip-field late in the 

 afternoon ; there is not likely to be 

 another bird there, for they will all be 

 out on the stubbles. The dog would 

 find this covey in a few minutes, whereas, 

 wanting his assistance, the little party 

 of humans must needs waste half an 

 hour or more tramping up and down the 

 field, before the birds are at last flushed 



