ii8 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS PARTRIDGES 



forth. An hour later I returned to the same place 

 and the birds were pointed one by one. Whether the 

 birds actually have the power of withholding the 

 scent we do not know. They certainly are often safe 

 from the noses of good dogs. The best opinion seems 

 to me to be that the scent is dissipated by the birds' 

 rapid passage through the air, and when they first 

 alight they press their wings closely to their bodies, 

 and do not give forth any scent until they move again. 



Since the birds do not always act in this manner, 

 however, I believe it is well to follow them at once, 

 especially if the beat will take one far from the place. It 

 may be the birds have moved or for other reason give 

 forth some scent, and the dogs will at once point them 

 one by one. The matter is, however, easily ascer- 

 tained. If the birds are not found at once, it is well 

 to leave them and return later. 



Partridges fly rapidly. They seem to be under full 

 headway as they leave the ground. It is absolutely 

 necessary, as I have repeatedly said, to shoot well over 

 rising birds, and well ahead of those which go off to 

 right or left. An old English game-keeper, quoted by 

 Stuart- Wortley, well said, " You will surely miss them 

 if you shoot where they are." It is important that the 

 shot should be so placed that the bird will fly into the 

 centre of the charge. The effective killing-area is in 

 the centre of the pattern. Straggling shot at the 

 sides will often wound or miss the bird, and the same 

 writer says " wounded birds will distress a first-rate 

 man, so that he would almost as soon have missed 

 them altogether." By shooting at the centre of the 

 flock several birds may possibly be killed at one shot, 



