ENEMIES OF THE PARTRIDGE 163 



no decrease was noticeable in the number of 

 the rabbits ; always the signs of their " traffic " 

 on the mounds near the burrows seemed to be 

 fresh ; and, in the moonlight, when fear of dog 

 and hawk was forgotten, they moved hither and 

 thither by the margin of the tangles, and, ventur- 

 ing even into the middle of the field near the 

 roosting-place of the partridges, fed and played 

 without a thought of death. Sometimes a 

 hunted rabbit escaped by leading her enemies in 

 and out of the tortuous trails through the under- 

 growth, where, at every step, the scent of 

 other conies crossed her own and baffled close 

 pursuit. 



In the early morning and late afternoon 

 these cross-scents were so strong and numerous 

 that the partridges, while wandering between 

 the outer line of the furze-brakes and the 

 hedges, seemed to be surrounded by a different 

 atmosphere from that of the open fields, and 

 their movements rarely excited the curiosity of 

 the weasels or the stoats, unless the animals 

 chanced to arrive at a spot where the brood 

 had lately " dusted " in the dry loam near a 

 gap, and where the scent of the birds' bodies 

 far more powerful than the scent of their claws 

 and legs could be readily distinguished from 

 anything indicating the presence of the rabbits. 



In a small but dense covert on the hillside, 



