276 PARTRIDGES 



handling of the line all then rests with 

 the flanker. If he plays his part well, 

 almost every covey can be sent over the 

 line in a slanting direction, offering a 

 chance to each gun in turn as it swings 

 down the line. A possible objection to 

 this drive would be that the birds were 

 driven away from the direction in which 

 they were wanted to go ; but with a 

 strong side-wind they would probably 

 swing round with the wind in any case, 

 even if they could be brought straight 

 over the guns. 



Diagrams 2 and 3 show the same field, 

 this time driven against a head-wind 

 a manoeuvre only possible after the ground 

 has been filled by several down-wind 

 drives. The second diagram shows how 

 fatal the normal crescent formation would 

 prove in this case. The results of moving 

 with the flanks thrown forward would be 

 an ill-timed exposition of the advantages 

 of the half-moon method for walking 

 up-wind, and the bulk of the birds would 

 inevitably go straight back over the 



