PARTRIDGES 37 
round merit, I proclaim partridges the most attrac- 
tive game-birds we possess. And I have no 
hesitation in saying that they are likely to remain 
so, and that they will grow in favour every year, 
unless, indeed, English sportsmanship deteriorates, 
and English gunners descend toshooting the sitting 
blackbird, after the manner of Frenchmen. 
Some may urge that the snipe is a more fascinating 
bird than the partridge; others may extol the 
capricious favours of woodcock. Both these birds 
are, I am afraid, far too local and fickle ever to oust 
the partridge from its solid position. It must be 
admitted, of course, that the shortcomings of the 
long-bills—snipe particularly—are due largely to 
the invasion of their haunts by men with drain- 
pipes and bricks and mortar. One still comes across 
men who say, in effect: ‘Give me an old cock 
pheasant rising from the shelter of a leafy turnip 
or patch of brambles.’ But they do not add the 
reason—that they may shoot him by placing their 
gun-barrels almost in actual contact with his plumage. 
Such shooters may appreciate the vociferous and 
sustained applause of the whole party, and the 
intolerable incense of powder and fused feathers. 
I abominate both. 
Give me partridges, and plenty of them. 
In judging numbers of partridges most people 
overestimate to a ridiculous extent. They see two 
or three passable coveys on a large farm, and call 
