54 TEN YEARS OF GAME-KEEPING 
were twenty years ago. Then, if one marked a 
covey down, and went straight for it, oftener than 
not the birds would lie within easy range, even 
when there was no cover. In the early days of 
September birds would lie well on stubble, while 
of late years it has been hopeless to expect any 
shooting to speak of by walking up birds on stubble. 
You may mark a dozen coveys, and are lucky if 
you get within shot of one of them. I remember 
one day, a few years ago, on which we expected to 
make a good bag, walking. It was the sixth of 
September ; there were a good lot of birds, and not 
a shot had been fired at them; five guns and six 
men to walk between them. There was not much 
cover, it is true, but quite enough to bag a reasonable 
number of birds for one day. It had rained heavily 
during the earlier part of the morning, and though 
it stopped before we began shooting, the weather 
was sullen all day. Off the first large field, some 
thirty acres of stubble, we flushed quite a hundred 
birds—not one of them within a hundred yards. 
And so things went on; and, if I remember rightly, 
not a shot had been fired at a bird within forty 
yards when it was decided to do what we could by 
impromptu driving. 
Of course, anyone who understands the habits of 
partridges knows that a combination of wet, cold, 
and wind makes them uncomfortable and extra 
wild, probably making the bag only half what it 
