MY BROTHER KEEPERS 213 



how so many of his birds had survived the wet 

 summer. Assuming a tone of wondrous condescen- 

 sion, this keeper among keepers was kind enough to 

 give me a general outline of his methods. Directly 

 he found all his partridges were being washed off 

 their nests, he had told his ' chaps ' to collect all the 

 eggs. (I noted with interest that he did not person- 

 ally conduct the collection.) The eggs he ' clapped ' 

 under hens, hatched them, and reared ' the lot.' It 

 was very simple. 



We all know, and, I think, have considerable faith 

 in, the keeper who never will own to having swarms 

 of birds ; when, however, he admits having f some ' 

 birds, we know that there is indeed ' something ' in 

 store for us. There is, too, the perpetually pes- 

 simistic keeper ; yet if you take his pessimism with 

 the necessary grains of salt, you will not find him 

 without a good show of game. But you must never 

 forget that his birds suffer annually from the ' garpes 

 somethink cruel.' 



