210 SHOOTING THE PARTRIDGE 
not allowed to grow too thick, and, unless wired in, 
the young broom—which is the best cover of all for 
partridges—will be eaten by rabbits and hares, while 
the cover itself will be too easily hunted by foxes. 
These will not be entirely kept out by wire netting 
after it has been up a year or two, but they will 
always be loth to trust themselves much inside it, 
and any little alteration, such as an extra strand of 
wire along the top, will make them suspicious of a 
trap, and, in all likelihood, keep them out altogether. 
Banks or belts of this description are, I think, 
better than fir-belts, though they do not afford such 
pretty shooting when birds are driven over them. If 
the neighbouring fences do not answer for driving, 
artificial stands of hurdles can be placed in the belt. 
These hurdle-stands should always be made either 
of two hurdles set at about a right angle, the point 
towards the drive, or of three hurdles, forming a 
three-sided shelter. When made of only one hurdle, 
the birds coming right and left of you catch sight of 
you, and swerve or turn back altogether. 
Again, if expense need not be considered, I would 
go much farther than the making of these belts or 
banks, and have one or more sanctuaries or partridge 
preserves in the centre of the ground. I cannot 
understand why this idea is not more adopted where 
