WALKING UP 183 
to kill them under the above conditions. Success 
depends entirely on intimate knowledge of the ground, 
the whereabouts of the coveys, and their probable 
or usual line of flight ; but w7¢# this knowledge, and 
straight shooting, you may kill all you want to on 
any ground, however bare and limited, so long as it 
is not blowing a gale of wind. 
But if you must secure birds for the pot, and do 
not mind easy slow shots out of hedgerows, then try 
the kite. The important thing to bear in mind is that 
the kite-flyer, if he walks in front of you, is likely to 
be in your way when the birds rise ; therefore, instruct 
him to walk rather behind you while he flies the kite 
in front of you. 
I have seen it used with good effect in shootings 
on a larger scale, notably at Merton, as a flank pro- 
tection, to keep birds on a Norfolk heath; but I 
believe even here it has been found unnecessary, and 
in most cases has been abandoned. It makes the 
birds sit so close that when the heath is driven, many 
would be passed by the drivers, though it undoubtedly 
prevents their breaking out on the side where it is 
being flown. 
Another essential to shooting partridges really well 
is to be ever ready, for the partridge that rises thirty- 
five yards off in breezy weather, though quite realisable, 
