CHAPTER IV 



PARTRIDGES 



Their popularity and thrift Their comparative scarcity How they 

 are persecuted Thoughtless shooters Partridges pay for atten- 

 tion Birds in bad weather Poverty of their food compared 

 to that of pheasants Value of artificial feeding Destruction of 

 nests Cheap nesting cover Coverts Why always pheasants ? 

 Dogs and nests Faults of partridges farmers and com- 

 pensation A health to the bonny brown birds ! 



THERE is scarcely an acre in the whole country 

 with the exception, of course, of the brick-and- 

 mortar department on which plenty of partridges 

 could not make a living if they were allowed to 

 try ; there is scarcely a shoot on which there are 

 absolutely no partridges, and there are very few 

 shoots on which partridges receive a tithe of the 

 encouragement they deserve. And partridges surely 

 deserve every encouragement, in view of their 

 thrifty habits, their industry, their heroic efforts to 

 greet September with a smile, no matter how bad 

 a breeding season they have had to put up with ; 

 and, above all, in view of their superb abilities for 

 providing real sport in so many ways, both for rich 

 and poor. Because of their many points of all- 



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