NATURE AND SPORT IN BRITAIN 



It is probable, I think, that by the mere fact of sitting 

 very closely in her nest, and keeping her feathers 

 tightly about her, the partridge and the hen of other 

 game-birds while nesting does actually suppress much 

 of the scent that ordinarily issues from her body. It is 

 not difficult to conceive that in motion, and especially in 

 a breeze, when her feathers are stirred by the wandering 

 air, the bird's scent is much more readily distributed 

 abroad. In the same way, it is a well-known fact that 

 harriers and beagles find it extremely difficult to locate a 

 sitting hare. While in her form, sitting tightly crouched 

 and quiescent, a hare certainly appears to be able to 

 suppress much of the scent that usually proves her 

 destruction. How often a pack of hounds will draw 

 right over the form of a sitting hare, or even over a 

 hare squatting in the middle of a hard run, without 

 winding the animal ! Yet the instant that animal is in 

 motion a strong scent is afforded, and hounds dash off 

 in full cry. The mere act of quiescence, of sitting very 

 still and very close, so low that the air in its passage 

 scarcely touches the crouching animal, whether it be 

 bird or hare, has, I am convinced, something to do with 

 this vexed question. It may be that, in addition, the 

 nesting partridge has some actual power of suppression 

 of her own. This, in the very nature of things, is a 

 hard matter to prove or disprove ; we can only accept 

 circumstantial evidence, much of which does un- 

 doubtedly point to the conclusion that a sitting game- 

 bird, be it partridge, grouse, pheasant, or other species, 

 is much more difficult of finding, even by well-nosed 

 sporting dogs, than is the same bird when abroad in 

 the fields, or in motion. 



Few birds make tamer or more interesting pets than 

 the partridge. Years ago a Sussex lady had a tame 

 partridge, which she kept about her for many seasons. 



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