288 PARTRIDGE MANORS AND 



manor ; and, after all, I believe I like partridge 

 and snipe shooting better than any other. 



As I remark in my notes on " November Shoot- 

 ing," a friend of mine once said he considered 

 snipe-shooting " the fox-hunting of shooting" and I 

 am disposed to agree with him. 



But, to return to June, from the 5th to about 

 the 20th of the month, most of the forward hatches 

 come off, and are seen basking and bathering round 

 their mother. 



But there are other hatches much later, for 

 cheepers are often found in September quite unfit 

 to shoot at. 



I can only account for this, that the old birds 

 have had their eggs destroyed in some way or 

 other. 



A partridge manor is not one quarter the ex- 

 pense of pheasants and coverts. The latter birds 

 not only require constant attention, night and day, 

 but feeding forms a very serious item. Pheasants 

 are very costly, and only within reach of the rich 

 man. 



A partridge manor, to have a good head on it, 

 though, must be well looked after, the vermin kept 

 down, and your keeper with a sharp eye to all 

 poachers and suspicious characters. 



With a net at night they often sweep off the 



