94 lewis's AMERICAN SPORTSMAN 



plaintive but most musical whistle, will discourage, as far as is in his 

 power, the shooting or trapping of them during the next season 

 at least, — we mean the season of 1856 and 1857. Not a bird 

 should be killed, under any pretext, in our own or the neighboring 

 States, during the next twelve months, as their numbers have been 

 so thinned the past winter that it will require one or two seasons 

 of undisturbed quiet, coupled with their prolific powers of procrea- 

 tion, to replenish their now almost exterminated ranks. 



DRIVING PARTRIDGES. 



Another mode of catching partridges, not less fatal to their pro- 

 pagation, if pursued by thoughtless individuals, is much practised 

 by the residents of Virginia, North Carolina, and other Southern 

 and Western States, where these birds are very abundant. It is 

 called driving, or netting. This method is so minutely and cor- 

 rectly described by Audubon, in his valuable work on Ornithology, 

 that we will quote his own words on the subject : — 



"A number of persons on horseback, provided with a net, set 

 out in search of partridges, riding along the fences or thickets 

 which the birds are known to frequent. One or two of the party 

 whistle in imitation of the call-note, and, as partridges are plentiful, 

 the call is soon answered by a covey, when the sportsmen imme- 

 diately proceed to ascertain their position and number, seldom con- 

 sidering it worth while to set the net where there are only a few 

 birds. They approach in a careless manner, talking and laughing, 

 as if merely passing by. When the birds are discovered, one of 

 the party gallops in a circuitous manner, gets in advance of the 

 rest by a hundred yards or more, according to the situation of the 

 birds and their disposition to run, while the rest of the sportsmen 



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