KEEPERS' WOE 141 



been sceptical about coveys of forward birds. But 

 he always says now that foxes at least show gallantry 

 in the matter of " ladies first." 



If June proves wet, despair reigns in the partridge 

 keeper's breast. With hopeless eyes he looks for- 

 ward to the coming season. One keeper of 

 our acquaintance, one wet midsummer, a 

 time when, in a promising season, he would 

 have had no moment to spare from the care of his 

 young birds, married, and went for a honeymoon. 

 " Lor' love ye," said another, weary of June rain, 

 " I might just as well 've bin in bed for a month past." 

 A common remark made by keepers in a rainy June 

 is the mournful plaint, " Ye don't see no feetmarks 

 on the roads, but old un's." 



The more we see of red-legged partridges the more 

 we appreciate their powers of running. They are 

 wonderful birds for eluding the tactics of 

 walking-up parties ; even where the birds are 

 plentiful it is rare to walk-up one within gunshot. 

 The red-leg also suffers by comparison with the 

 English birds on the table. But he is a grand bird 

 for driving (when he is headed and forced to fly), 

 seldom coming in coveys so that a dozen red-legs 

 may afford as many shots as a dozen unbroken 



