THE KUFFED GKOUSE. 291 



feebly at the soft maternal cluck, and hurrying to. 

 enshroud them under the shelter of her guardian wing, 

 and nestle, happy younglings, among the downy plumage 

 of her maternal breast. Curses upon the sacrilegious 

 hand that would interrupt that sweet and tender scene 

 by the sharp click of the murderous trigger ; yet there 

 be brutes, in the guise of men, who scruple not to 

 butcher the drumming cock, taken at fatal disadvantage, 

 amid his admiring harem ; scruple not to slaughter the 

 brooding mother above her miserable younglings but 

 to such we cry avaunt ! to such we deny the name of 

 sportsmen, nay, but of Christians, or of men. Get ye 

 behind us, murderous pot-hunters ! 



The young broods grow rapidly ; and by the time they 

 have reached the size of the Quail, fly well and strongly 

 on the wing. By the middle, or latter end of August, 

 they are three parts grown, and fully feathered, with the 

 exception of the tail, which is not yet complete, and 

 retains a pointed form. The blundering legislation of 

 this country in general, on the subject of the game-laws, 

 has, in this instance, to my ideas, exceeded itself; for 

 during the months of September and October, when the 

 broods are still united under the care of the mother, the 

 birds lying well to the setter, and when flushed scatter- 

 ing themselves singly here and there among low under- 

 growth or bushes, and rarely or never taking to the tree, 

 we are prohibited from shooting this bold, hardy, ramb- 

 ling, and shy bird ; this, at a later season, wild hunter 



