Partridges Eggs. 5 1 



woodcraft, and a proof of the decay of the present 

 generation. 



In addition to the pheasants, the partridges, wild 

 as they are, require some attention — the eggs have to 

 be looked after. The mowers in the meadows fre- 

 quently lay their nests^bare beneath the sweep of the 

 scythe : the old bird sometimes sits so close as to have 

 her legs cut off by the] sharp steel. Occasionally a 

 rabbit, in the same way, is killed by the point of the 

 blade as he lingers in his form. The mowers receive 

 a small sum for every egg they bring, the' eggs being 

 placed under brood hens, kept for the purpose. But 

 as a partridge's egg from one field is precisely like one 

 from another field, the keeper may find, if he does not 

 look pretty sharp after the mowers on the estate, that 

 they have been bribed by a trifle extra to carry the 

 eggs to another man at a distance. A very unpleasant 

 feeling often arises from suspicions of this kind. 



His agricultural labour consists in superintending 

 the cultivation of the small squares left for the growth 

 of grain in the centre of the copses, to feed and attract 

 the pheasants, and to keep them from wandering. 

 These have to be dug up with the spade — there would 

 be no room for using a plough — and spade-husbandry 

 is rather slow work. An eye has therefore to be kept 

 on the labourers thus employed lest they get into 



£ 2 



