SHOOTING AS IT WAS, AND AS IT IS. 29 



tlio uiiinber in tlic covey proportionately dimi- 

 nisliccl. After some little time liatclies of from 

 eighteen to twenty young birds dwindled down to 

 two or three, and then also I oljserved in very 

 many cases but one old bird with the covey, and 

 sometimes none. 



The breeding season, or rather the dying seasons, 

 wore on, and my keepers reported some good 

 coveys, numerically speaking, though all })ro- 

 nounced them to be the worst seasons ever knowm. 

 In tlie second week in one September I sliot on 

 my own manor; and in a lield in wdiich a covey 

 of fourteen was reported, there they were, and at 

 the first rise some elucidation was afforded, for in a 

 left and right shot out of tlie same covey I killed 

 two different - sized young birds. Eventually I 

 killed three different - sized young birds, and on 

 extending my beat I met with small coveys of 

 young birds of different sizes, Avithout any old 

 l)irds, proving that in many cases the old birds as 

 well as many young ones had died, and hence the 

 packing together of the orphan birds. 



In the immediate precincts of my house, in one 

 of these seasons, I knew of nine old birds sitting on 

 full nests of eggs, all of them hatched off splendidly 



