160 THE PARTRIDGE 



near the spot where the farmer had saved them 

 from the teeth of his mowing machine, an old 

 ill-tempered cow, fancying they were trespassers, 

 gave determined chase. In the pastures they 

 had already grown accustomed to her bullying 

 tricks, and so, easily avoiding her clumsy pursuit, 

 they scattered and ran off full speed towards 

 the gateway. Suddenly the cock bird, seizing 

 the opportunity of inducing his brood to use 

 their wings, rose into the air, and they, squeak- 

 ing with excitement and misgiving, flew up and 

 hurried after him. Only two or three times 

 previously had the chicks succeeded in making 

 short flights from field to field, and not as yet 

 had they learned the importance of rising 

 together in quick obedience to the signal of one 

 or other of their parents. The meadow sloped 

 rather abruptly to the hedge ; this circumstance 

 favoured their inexpert movements ; so they 

 sped on in an irregular line, followed, as soon as 

 they were well on their way, by their mother. 

 They had reached the gateway, and were about 

 to turn across the hedge into the wheat, when, 

 a sparrow-hawk shot with lightning swiftness 

 along by the hawthorns, and struck down the 

 two last weaklings to the earth. The mother 

 partridge saw the hawk descend to complete 

 his cruel task, swerved through the bushes, and 

 dropped like a itone into the ditch on the far 



