THE CHANGING YEAR 185 



snares for rabbits in the runways of the hedge, 

 saw them together asleep, but without disturbing 

 their slumber went his way. 



The snow, hardened by successive frosts, re- 

 mained on the ground for more than a week, and 

 many animals and birds, unable to obtain food 

 except at noon when the sun brought on a slight 

 thaw in places screened from the wind, suffered 

 from privation. The partridges, ready at once 

 to adapt their habits to a change of circum- 

 stances, now frequented the borders of the woods 

 during the morning and the afternoon, instead 

 of roaming in the open fields, where, against the 

 white background of the snow, their movements 

 could have easily been followed. While occupied 

 with their toilet, or sporting with one another, 

 or looking for stray insects and berries near the 

 tangled undergrowth, they were quick to take 

 alarm, and if they suspected danger would scatter 

 each to a particular retreat, and squat, moveless, 

 among the protecting twigs. Always, however, 

 when the sun was warm and the frost began to 

 melt, they would steal away together, along by 

 the south side of the hedges or of the high-road, 

 where the crust of snow was often melted by the 

 heat and pressure of waggon-wheels and horses' 

 hoofs, and search for the miscellaneous provender 

 which now sufficed to allay their hunger. Thence 

 they wandered down the valley to the brook, 



