74 TEN YEARS OF GAME-KEEPING 
driven into such stuff—to save time—and almost 
every bird rise and clear out within five minutes. 
The result was that the beaters again had to go 
round some distance, and the guns, after all, had to 
wait much longer than if there had been no pre- 
liminary driving in. 
Partridges will put themselves into dry roots 
readily enough—either when the sun is hot, for 
shade; or when there is a hard frost with a wind, 
for shelter ; or when it rains very, very hard, for 
protection (by way of the lesser of two damp evils). 
There is no more likely place to find birds in very 
wet weather than in tall kale, for beneath its hanging 
leaves the birds can move without getting wet by 
contact with wet material. Swedes, which have 
sprawling leaves, much given to holding water, 
consequently are not likely to be patronized by 
partridges, unless dry. When driving is going on 
other than early in the season, it is well for guns 
not to lose time in getting to their places after the 
beaters start to get round a drive, even if it is a 
long one, and especially when the birds on the 
ground included in the drive have been driven on 
to it towards some barrier, such as a village. Often 
I have known birds to start coming when the 
beaters were only half-way to the base of a half-mile 
drive. Though red-legs are not of much use for 
walking up, it is only right that they should have a 
word of praise for their driving qualities ; they will 
