164 THE PARTRIDGE 



to which, during the previous winter, the old 

 partridges had resorted when they " packed," 

 a vixen, with a family of cubs that were now 

 rapidly learning how to obtain their food with- 

 out her assistance, lived in a carefully hidden 

 " breeding earth " beneath the roots of an 

 oak. Nightly, the rovers stole through the 

 gloomy woods and through the narrow belts 

 of shadow cast by the hedge-banks over the 

 dewy fields, and their quick yet careful methods 

 of hunting were disastrous to the voles and the 

 rabbits surprised in their journeys. 



The hare, who had made her springtide home 

 near the wheat-field, now dwelt in a dry " form " 

 among the reeds in the lower pasture. Her 

 "run," however, still led through the cornfield 

 to the gate ; thence, after ambling down the 

 lane, she generally made off to the hillside, and 

 skirted the fallows above the wood. 



The vixen and her family had discovered 

 her whereabouts, and on several occasions had 

 vainly endeavoured to capture her while she 

 fed in the clover away from home. One night, 

 on the margin of the root-crop, they followed 

 the line of her scent, and attempted to sur- 

 round her as she lay in a clump of grass. But 

 in the nick of time she bounded from her 

 " seat," swerved, and thus eluded one of the 

 cubs which made an effort to close in on her ; 



