142 A GAMEKEEPER'S NOTE-BOOK 



English coveys. And they come straight, more in 

 the style of grouse than of the brown partridges. 

 The two types seldom intermingle, being of differ- 

 ent species and different genera. In some places 

 an ill-feeling is still harboured against the bigger 

 and handsomer red-legs, and it is thought that they 

 drive away the English birds. 







It is a lucky keeper whose shoot is watered by springs 

 and brooks which never fail in time of drought, for a 



continuous supply of water means much to 

 Water for the success of game-breeding. But streams 

 Birds have their dangers : birds will be attracted 



to the banks at nesting-time, and if heavy 

 rains follow, their nests may be destroyed by the 

 floods. A greater danger lies in the streams which 

 are winter water-courses only and dry up in the 

 spring. Herbage will grow luxuriantly at the stream- 

 side, and birds will be enticed to nest in places where, 

 after a heavy rainfall, there will rush a raging torrent, 

 to carry away birds, nests, eggs and all. Some say 

 that nesting birds can foretell the weather, and choose 

 their nesting-places accordingly building on the 

 banks and higher ground if the season will be wet, 

 but in the hollows if dry. No doubt their choice is 

 influenced only by prevailing weather, and the posi- 

 tion of suitable cover. In a cold, late spring, grass - 

 fields offer poor shelter, and so the birds choose the 



