THE PARTRIDGE. 103 



destructive than the sparrowhawk, pigeonhawk, and goshawk, who 

 follow after and destroy great numbers of them earlj in the autumn, 

 when they are comparatively weak and unwary and not sufficiently . 

 alert to elude their grasp by rapid flight to the thick coverts. The 

 pigeon-hawk, being much larger and stronger than the former, 

 does not hesitate, on a favorable occasion, to dart down and 

 carry off the oldest and strongest birds. Nothing terrifies a covey 

 so much, when feeding in the open country, as the appearance of 

 this formidable marauder. Skimming along the tops of the stubble- 

 fields, so near to the ground as scarcely to be discovered, he comes 

 stealthily upon his unconscious victims, and fastens his deadly 

 talons in their very vitals, bearing them off screaming to the 

 nearest tree, to satisfy his cruel appetite. The covey, startled at 

 his approach, fly in every direction, secreting themselves in the 

 thickets of brushwood, deep grass, and almost impenetrable cripples. 

 When partridges have been frightened in this way, they take a 

 long time to collect together again, as they dare not give utter- 

 ance to a single note-call, while dreading the presence of their 

 relentless foe. 



We have often come across birds disturbed by this fearless free- 

 booter, and found them extremely wild and shy, not permitting a 

 dog to come within a hundred yards of them. When the winter is 

 severe in the middle and northern latitudes, these hawks, more 

 particularly the goshawks, a larger species, are driven to great 

 extremities for food, as most of the small birds, their usual prey, 

 have left for more congenial climes; and then it is that the 

 formidable goshawk visits the barnyards in search of plunder, and 

 does not hesitate to carry off the largest chickens. It is no un- 

 common thing for shooters to see this daring depredator dip down 

 into a covey when within a few yards of his own person ; and a gen- 

 tleman informs me that he has seen them pounce upon and carry 

 off partridges which were brought to the ground a few moments 

 before by the gun, and that, on a certain occasion, he actually shot 

 one when in the very act of making off with a bird which he had 

 seized the moment it was knocked down at a long shot. 



