RUFFED GROUSE AND PARTRIDGE. 197 



away, and the relaxation and pleasure well earned, 

 possibly after tedious Parliamentary duties, supplant- 

 ed by disgust, annoyance, and disappointment. 



From the heather let us look at the stubbles. Near- 

 ly all accounts tally in the smallness of the bags made 

 and the extreme wildness of the birds. In this case 

 we have not disease to lay the paucity of sport to, 

 but a more than usually dry summer. Shooting in 

 England will thus be seen to be a very uncertain 

 amusement, for if the birds should survive the nu- 

 merous ailments of their infancy, our eccentric climate 

 may still intervene, and however good the early pros- 

 pects were, when the time for enjoyment comes the 

 sportsman has to be satisfied, after hours of unsuc- 

 cessful tramping, with the information that the heat 

 or wet, or a combination of both, is the cause that 

 so indifferent a bag is made. 



If our game-birds are so susceptible of effects, that 

 shooting becomes an amusement that can not be look- 

 ed forward to with certainty, the best remedy to offer 

 is the introduction of foreign game, hardy in constitu- 

 tion, suited to our country and the sportsman's wants. 

 In time these strangers might be influenced by the 

 disadvantages the home birds suffer from, but we 

 would have variety, and the season that was uusuited 



