JOYS AND SORROWS 295 
look for eggs direct, but for those signs which 
tell tales of a nest. A man who has the gift 
of nesting time after time will appear to come 
straight to a nest, apparently by luck; whereas 
almost unconsciously he has noted the spot where, 
if there is not a nest, there ought to be one. 
Pheasant nests are much easier to find than 
partridge nests. A pheasant seldom covers up her 
eggs, a partridge almost always does so. To pry 
beneath that suspicious hollow in the dead leaves of 
a hedge-side is a speculation of which I never tired, 
any more than of that enchanting perfume of stubble, 
turnips, clover-heads, and partridges. It was our 
custom, when we went a-nesting in a party, not to 
smoke till the first egg was found; then the finder 
had the honour of standing a fill of the pipe all 
round. 
The help given a keeper by his employer on 
shooting - days makes all the difference. Few 
keepers are blest with an employer who really 
understands both the art of shooting game and of 
bringing it to the gun. Better by far is it for the 
smooth and successful working of a day that an 
employer should understand nothing of manage- 
ment and know it, than that, knowing a little, he 
should act without understanding. The man who 
knows nothing, but follows instructions implicitly, 
is a treasure to his keeper. I call to mind a remark 
of a man who knew more about the silk trade than 
