214 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 



If I wished to find a covey at night in such 

 weather as I have just come in from, my mous- 

 tache and beard stiff with ice, I should know 

 where to look for them, and I should find them, 

 snug and warm as toast, where no breath of wind 

 or biting frost could reach them ; but just where that 

 particular place is I must certainly decline to tell, 

 and for very excellent reasons. I do not kill birds, 

 nor have I the least wish to do so. One thing, 

 however, I will say about it, and that is, the part- 

 ridges would be where most would probably never 

 dream of searching for them. 



The bird's natural enemies are comparatively few, 

 taking into consideration his ground habitat- Rap- 

 tores in southern countries the sparrow-hawk ex- 

 cepted are very few ; and this hawk rarely kills the 

 partridge, for the reason that hedgerow birds are so 

 abundant, and they are a far easier quarry than our 

 swift bird. I could, if I thought it necessary, give 

 authentic information of the large bags of partridges 

 made in past years, but as this chapter deals more 

 with the natural history of the brave bird than with 

 the sport he provides for the sportsman, such records 

 need not be given. 



