FOXES AND THE EVERLASTING QUESTION 175 
spring to increase breeding stocks; but since this 
plan would encourage a trade in spurious Hungarians, 
which it is much more desirable to check than to 
encourage, I do not think it would find much favour. 
The prospect of Anglo-Hungarian partridges being 
eaten by Anglo-Hungarian foxes never would com- 
mend itself to keepers. I wonder how many of the 
foreign foxes sold in England are foreign-bred? or, 
to put it another way, what becomes of numbers of 
live English-bred foxes? Are they exported as a 
complimentary change of blood, or are they—well— 
transmogrified ? 
It is glibly suggested that the keeper should 
dress all his partridge-nests with some evil-smelling 
fluid, and so protect them. Is not this in itself 
evidence of need of protection? But what keeper, 
try how he may, can find all, or even half, the 
‘ partridge-nests on his beat? It is true that if he 
has the time, he can find a good many of those in 
hedges and so on, and, therefore, most liable to ruin 
by foxes. But, assuming that as many nests as 
possible are found and scent-protected, at consider- 
able extra labour and risk of drawing to them 
destructive attention, which otherwise they probably 
would escape, what good is it all? At best, the 
hatched broods for weeks must run a great risk 
from which nothing can protect them. A keeper 
may blow a horn all night to scare foxes from 
foraging on his beat. Well, assuming that no fox 
