WALKING UP 163 
ground, and have joined the fresh birds there if 
possible. You will probably come upon him as you 
walk this strip, but if you do not the dog-man will 
take up the search behind you, laying on his dogs at 
the marked spot where he fell, and whatever pains it 
may cost to find him, at least the progress of the line 
will not be delayed, nor the fresh ground disturbed 
by thesearch. A winged bird will invariably run away 
from the line, and almost always down the drill to the 
fence. The scent of him keeps alive much longer 
than in the case of a dead bird, so that there is no 
great reason for hurry. You will also observe that a 
dog will always hunt closer and more rapidly with no 
one near him than surrounded by a number of people, 
of whom several will very likely be carrying dead game, 
and thereby confusing the scent. The scent of a hare 
or rabbit is much stronger than that of a partridge, 
and no dog can be expected to stick true to the scent 
of the bird, when there are men dragging either of 
these, freshly killed and bleeding, through the cover, 
within a few feet of him. 
I had the shooting of several thousand acres of 
very good partridge ground in Perthshire given tu me 
years ago. I took the same eight beaters out every 
day, and by paying them a little more than the market 
rate of wages, found no difficulty in getting them 
M2 
