THE POULTRY KIND. 169 



length, when she has drawn him entirely away 

 from her secret treasure, she at once takes wing, 

 and fairly leaves him to gaze after her in despair. 



After the danger is over, and the dog with- 

 drawn, she then calls her young, who assemble 

 at once at her cry, and follow where she leads 

 them. There are generally from ten to fifteen 

 in a covey ; and, if unmolested, they live from 

 fifteen to seventeen years. 



There are several methods of taking them, as 

 is well known ; that by which they are taken in a 

 net, with a setting dog, is the most pleasant, as 

 well as the most secure. The dog, as every 

 body knows, is trained to this exercise by a long 

 course of education : by blows and caresses he is 

 taught to lie down at the word of command ; a 

 partridge is shown him, and he is then ordered to 

 lie down ; he is brought into the field, and when 

 the sportsman perceives where the covey lies, he 

 orders his dog to crouch : at length the dog, from 

 habit, crouches whenever he approaches a covey ; 

 and this is the signal which the sportsman re- 

 ceives for unfolding and covering the birds with 

 his net. A covey thus caught, is sometimes fed 

 in a place proper for their reception ; but they 

 can never be thoroughly tamed, like the rest of 

 our domestic poultry. 



