THE PARTRIDGE. 143 



move about on their horses, talking to each other, but at the same 

 time watching every motion of the covey. The person in advance, 

 being provided with the net, dismounts, and at once falls to 

 placing it so that his companions can easily drive the partridges into 

 it. No sooner is the machine ready than the net-bearer remounts 

 and rejoins the party. The sportsmen now separate to a short 

 distance, and follow the partridges, talking and whistling, clapping 

 the hands, or knocking the fence-rails. The birds move with great 

 gentleness, following each other, and are kept in the right direc- 

 tion by the sportsmen. The leading bird approaches and enters 

 the mouth of the net; the others follow in succession, when the 

 net-bearer leaps from his horse, runs up and secures the entrance, 

 and soon despatches the birds. In this manner fifteen or twenty 

 partridges are caught at one driving, and sometimes many hun- 

 dreds in the course of a day. Most netters give liberty to one 

 pair out of each covey, that the breed may be continued. The 

 success of driving depends much on the state of the weather. 

 Drizzling rain or melting snow is the best ; for in such weather 

 partridges, and gallinaceous birds in general, run to a great dis- 

 tance rather than fly ; whereas, if the weather be dry and clear, 

 they generally take to the wing the moment they discover an in- 

 truder, or squat so that they cannot be driven without very par- 

 ticular care. Again, when the coveys are found in the woods, 

 they run off so briskly and so far that it is difficult for the net- 

 bearer to place his machine in time. 



" The net is cylindrical, thirty or forty feet in length by about 

 two in diameter, excepting at the mouth or entrance, where it is 

 rather larger, and at the extremity, where it assumes the form of 

 a bag. It is kept open by means of small wooden hoops, at a 

 distance of two or three feet from each other. The mouth is 

 furnished with a semicircular hoop sharpened at both ends, which 

 are driven into the ground, thus affording an easy entrance to the 

 birds Two pieces of netting, called wings, of the same length as 

 the cylindrical one, are placed one on each side of the mouth, so 

 as to form an obtuse angle with each other, and are supported bj 



