20 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PARTRIDGE 
their senses of sight and sound with such refined 
accuracy that very little of what goes on around them 
really escapes their attention. They know, most 
likely, every grouse nest on the farm, and can tell you~ 
where a covey of partridges can be found at almost 
any hour of the day. 
Highland shepherds and their helpers take a 
similar interest in the red grouse that nest upon the 
sheep farms, especially if employed by the proprietor, 
whose interests they naturally desire to protect. The 
partridge has many friends besides professed game 
preservers. Were it otherwise, it would have become 
extinct ere this in many districts. Sportsmen when 
shooting over dogs prefer to kill off the leading birds 
of a covey, if possible, so that the remaining members 
of the covey become scattered and lose their powers of 
combination for a while. The theory involved has, no 
doubt, a large element of truth for its substratum, but 
it must not be pressed too far. Still it is wonderful 
how soon the members of a broken covey contrive to 
reunite and adopt fresh leaders, to whose vigilance and 
guidance they proceed to entrust their safety. ‘Ina 
dead hard winter, the partridge is not put to it as his 
larger associates are, for the bird naturally is a ground 
one ; all his living is got from it; he lives, broods, 
and jugs there. No matter how deep the snow may 
