PARTRIDGE SHOOTING. 08 1 



will remain, according to the state of the weather, 

 or other circumstances, until nine or ten o'clock, 

 when they go to bask. The basking-place is com- 

 monly on a sandy bank-side facing the sun, where 

 the whole covey sits huddled together for several 

 hours. About four or five o'clock, they return to 

 the stubbles to feed, and about six or seven they 

 go to their jucking-place, a place of rest for the 

 night, which is mostly in aftermath, or in a rough 

 pasture field, where they remain huddled together 

 until morning. Such are their habits during the 

 early part of the season ; but their time of feeding 

 and basking varies much with the length of the 

 days. While the corn is standing, unless the 

 weather be very fine or very wet, partridges will 

 often remain in it all day; when fine, they bask on 

 the outskirts; when wet, they run to some bare 

 place in a sheltered situation, where they will be 

 found crowded together as if basking, for they sel- 

 dom remain long in corn or grass when it is wet. 

 Birds lie best on a hot day. They are wildest on 

 a damp or boisterous day. 



The usual way of proceeding in search of par- 

 tridges in September is to try the stubbles first, 

 and next the potato and turnip field. Birds fre- 

 quently bask amongst potatoes or turnips, especially 

 when those fields are contiguous to a stubble-field. 

 The best partridge shooting is obtained in potato 

 and turnip fields. It not unfrequently happens 

 that potatoes or turnips are grown on a headland 

 in a corn field ; in that case the headland will be a 

 favourite resort of birds. 



