244 THE ROLL OF THE SEASONS 



the hill-field to stubble and back again, as the voluntary 

 or driven movements of the birds determine. The 

 partridge is the thread on which the other delights 

 of this glorious day are strung, but it has scarcely more 

 to do with its real pleasures than with the health we 

 derive from it. The partridge leads the more observant 

 kind of man through a kindergarten course in agri- 

 culture. He notes with astonishment the thick yellow 

 veins, and the enormous leaves with which the swede 

 is assimilating sugar and other treasure, and conveying 

 them to the great bulbous root. He wades through 

 horse-beans, this year five feet high, and must hold 

 his gun almost continuously above his head if he 

 would be ready for the up-whirring covey. He 

 marvels at the depth of the purple-foamed sea of 

 lucerne, and marvels still more when he learns that 

 this is the third crop of the year. 



The grouse stands almost alone as a victim of the 

 " Twelfth," but there are many others to share the 

 partridge's danger on the " First." The sweet-toothed 

 hare may ruffle the foliage of the swedes, and end 

 by taking a run in the open that almost inevitably 

 proves fatal, though it is probably the gun that has 

 been missing partridges all day that brings down 

 puss. The feeble-looking but artful landrail is, as 

 it were, a titbit for the gun that has been sated 

 with the burlier and more frequent bird. The wood- 

 pigeon, clattering from a beech or from some depreda- 

 tion in the field, is too plump, and offers too sporting 

 a shot to be allowed to go away unchallenged. The 

 agricultural plains and valleys that the partridge loves 

 are as rich in surprises of fur and feather as in variety 

 of vegetation. 



