THE PARTRIDGE. 85 



FURTHER HINTS. 



"We shall now enter upon some particulars more familiar to 

 the practical Sportsman, and in which he will take especial in- 

 terest, and no doubt feel competent to compare our observations 

 with the results of his own experience, and thus be able to judge 

 of the truth and importance of our information, not only to him- 

 self, but to the young Tyro. In compiling this work, it is our 

 earnest desire to bring the young Sportsman forward so rapidly 

 in all that relates to the crafts of the field, that, with a little 

 industry and ordinary attention, he may, in the second season 

 of his debut^ possess the same skill in hunting and bagging game 

 as it would have required five or six years of regular appren- 

 ticeship for him to arrive at. 



As before stated. Partridges are formed into coveys, and 

 sufficiently large to shoot, in the month of October, which is 

 the time prescribed by legislative enactments for the killing of 

 this game in several of the States jVKew Jersey, however, hav- 

 ing in view the preservation of the second brood, we suppose, 

 prolongs this period to the following month.^ But few Par- 

 tridges are taken at this early season in traps, owing to the 

 great abundance of grain, seed, and insects to be found in 

 the stubble-fields and clover- patches; nevertheless, incalculable 

 numbers of Punning Birds now fall victims to the nets set by 

 farmer boys and the negroes of the adjoining States. A gen- 

 tleman residing on the Chesapeake Bay, a short distance from 

 Havre-de-Grace, informed us, not long since, that his immediate 

 neighbor caught in this way, during one season, on his own 

 estate, no less than nine hundred Partridges, which he kept in 

 coops, and gave out to his Negroes as ordinary food during the 

 running season, besides supplying his friends in the city with 

 considerable numbers. This account may seem incredible to 

 those not familiar with the fecundity of Partridges, and still 

 less acquainted with the immense armies of these Birds that 

 congregate together during their migratory trips, and the regu- 

 larity and pertinacity with which they pursue their course, 

 sometimes passing through the heart of villages that obstruct 

 their way. The estate upon which this large number of Birds 



