PARTRIDGES 37 



round merit, I proclaim partridges the most attrac- 

 tive game - birds we possess. And I have no 

 hesitation in saying that they are likely to remain 

 so, and that they will grow in favour every year, 

 unless, indeed, English sportsmanship deteriorates, 

 and English gunners descend to shooting the sitting 

 blackbird, after the manner of Frenchmen. 



Some may urge that the snipe is a more fascinating 

 bird than the partridge ; others may extol the 

 capricious favours of woodcock. Both these birds 

 are, I am afraid, far too local and fickle ever to oust 

 the partridge from its solid position. It must be 

 admitted, of course, that the shortcomings of the 

 long-bills snipe particularly are due largely to 

 the invasion of their haunts by men with drain- 

 pipes and bricks and mortar. One still comes across 

 men who say, in effect : ' Give me an old cock 

 pheasant rising from the shelter of a leafy turnip 

 or patch of brambles.' But they do not add the 

 reason that they may shoot him by placing their 

 gun-barrels almost in actual contact with his plumage. 

 Such shooters may appreciate the vociferous and 

 sustained applause of the whole party, and the 

 intolerable incense of powder and fused feathers. 

 I abominate both. 



Give me partridges, and plenty of them. 



In judging numbers of partridges most people 

 overestimate to a ridiculous extent. They see two 

 or three passable coveys on a large farm, and call 



