ii6 RECREATIONS OF A NATURALIST 



Rendlesham. In Northumberland, at Alnwick, 

 their example was followed by the Duke of 

 Northumberland. In Essex the Earl of Rochford 

 tried a similar experiment at St Osyth, and in 

 1777 coveys were met with at Colchester, which, no 

 doubt, had emanated from this last-named centre^ 

 In 1776 Sir Harry Fetherstonhaugh, at Uppark,. 

 Sussex, imported a lot of eggs from France ; and 

 from a correspondence with his mother, which has 

 been preserved, it appears that several coveys were 

 reared within the walled gardens of Harting Place 

 and in the Park ; and, although the experiment to 

 establish them here permanently seems to have 

 failed, there can be little doubt that from this 

 new centre of introduction the county of Sussex was 

 originally stocked. It is somewhat curious that from 

 about 1820 until i860 not a single "red-leg" was 

 observed in this parish ; but in the latter year several 

 eggs of this species were found on a farm on the 

 downs, and since that date a covey or two has been 

 found every year, at first on the downs amongst the 

 furze, heath, and juniper, and gradually they have 

 found their way down into the valleys where, within 

 the last few years, theyhave increased to amarked ex- 

 tent, though not to the prejudice of the English birds. 

 In 1823 a fresh centre of dispersal originated in West 

 Suffolk, at Culford, near Bury St Edmunds, where 

 Lords Alvanley and De Ros turned out a number 

 of " red-legs." Those previously introduced in the 

 eastern division of that county increased rapidly, 

 and spread from Aldeburgh to Woodbridge, and 

 into Norfolk, where it is most probable that other 



