40 TEN YEARS OF GAME-KEEPING 



blazing away at the birds to the bitter end are 

 the last to give the matter a thought. They are 

 content to leave what they are pleased to call a 

 stock to the mercy of the weather, generally the 

 most trying of the whole year ; to the pangs of 

 hunger, without a yard of stubble accessible ; and 

 to the unchecked ravages of vermin everlastingly 

 on the prowl. It is all very well to urge, in ex- 

 tenuation of total neglect, that severe weather, short 

 commons, and the attentions of vermin purge the 

 stock birds of weaklings. That is no excuse for 

 forgetting that what kills undesirables must weaken 

 the rest, and must tend to weak-germed eggs and 

 delicate chicks, ready to perish in the first spell of 

 bad weather. But please don't run away with the 

 idea that I advocate coddling partridges after the 

 manner of the unfortunate pheasant that spends 

 most of its life in coop and pen, 



A partridge under average conditions can hold 

 its own with most birds in point of plumpness. Is 

 not * as plump as a partridge ' a common simile ? 

 But kill a partridge after a week's or a fortnight's 

 frost, and its emaciated breast will provide about 

 as much meat as a thrush's. Surely this is just the 

 time when the birds which are to continue their 

 race require, if only in the interest of the superb 

 sport they provide, food, decent both in quantity 

 and quality. What is there for them ? Some of 

 the lucky ones may be able to snatch a few grains 



