Protect I ng Nests and Sitting Birds. 19 



troubled by foxes often results in a welcome 

 increase of game, and it is beneficial to turn 

 down these birds. Strangers unaccustomed to 

 open downlands, where a hedge is perhaps not 

 to be seen for miles, are often astonished at the 

 number of partridges to be met with in such a 

 country, and wonder where they breed. All nest 

 in the open as described, and foxes do not get a 

 chance to interfere with them. In an inclosed 

 country, by confining his attention to the fences, 

 Reynard may happen to find a large majority of 

 the nests, but it is beyond possibility that every 

 foot of the spacious downland can be hunted, and 

 a big percentage consequently escape his inter- 

 ference. Matters work oat exactly the same as 

 regards other vermin, and this explains the presence 

 of the good stocks of birds so frequently seen on 

 the open downs and fens. 



During a dry season, when grazing is scarce, 

 cattle are often the indirect cause of nests being 

 destroyed in the fences. Being short of grass 

 they bore right into the hedges, eating every 

 weed and tender shoot within reach, and laying 

 nests perfectly bare to the eye, let alone the keen 

 nose of a fox. In a season when this is to be 

 anticipated, precautions to avoid it should be 

 observed, and if the surrounding herbage is 



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