

Partridge. 333 



enemies are numerous, the gun, the net, the trap of man, the 

 stoat and weasel, the magpie, crow and jay, and the mower are 

 among the most conspicuous. The hedgehog is also no doubt 

 one of its enemies, as the keepers at Winterslow used to tell me 

 that an egg was the best bait for the trap intended to catch the 

 hedgepig. In the summer of 1841, a farmer of the neighbouring 

 parish of Langley heard two Partridges in a hedge in a grass field 

 making a great noise ; so he approached the spot, and found two 

 old birds manfully defending their nest against a hedgehog : he 

 killed the animal, and the eggs, eighteen in number, were soon 

 afterwards hatched. I have witnessed myself the destruction of 

 a nest by a magpie. In this county the poacher fixes a flue net 

 in the corner of a field where he has roosted birds, and then under 

 cover of a horse he gradually walks the birds into the net. These 

 birds do better when some of them are shot every year; if 

 all are spared, the old birds drive away the young ones.' I may 

 add that Partridges feed shortly after sunrise, and a little before 

 sunset, retiring to bask in the sun or dust themselves on dry 

 banks at midday. They roost on the ground in the open field 

 shortly after sunset, and the whole covey sits closely crowded 

 together in a circle, tails towards the centre, heads outwards 

 (like a watchful round-robin), for the sake of security, and in order 

 to avoid a surprise. They are said to ' jug' when they so arrange 

 themselves for the night. There is no question that dry weather 

 is especially valuable for the Partridge, and very true was the 

 saying of that excellent observer, the late Mr. Knox,' The drier the 

 summer, the better for the game/* Indeed, a continuance of wet 

 stormy weather, such as we often experience in this country at 

 hatching-time towards the latter end of June, is most destructive 

 to the young brood. On one occasion I was taken to see a curious 

 instance of a Partridge sitting on her nest, on a stubble- rick, on 

 the shelving side near the top, and about six feet from the ground. 

 This was in June, 1853, on the farm of Mr. Hillier of Winter- 

 bourne Monkton, in the midst of open downs, and surrounded 

 by hundreds of acres of wheat, barley, oats, clover and turnips, so 

 'Birds of Sussex/ p. 174. 



