CHAPTER XXVI 



Removing the Young Pheasants to Covert 



The removal of the birds to the covert constitutes a most 

 important part of the keeper's duties, and one that calls for 

 the exercise of a considerable amount of tact as well as the 

 display of a good deal of intelligence. Up to the time that 

 the birds are considered fit to remove to the covert the 

 rearer may have been very successful, but no matter how 

 successful he may have been, it will not be possible to bring 

 a good head of game to the gun, unless the rearer has 

 exercised his ingenuity and resourcefulness during the re- 

 moval of the birds to the covert side, as it is at this period 

 of the lives of the birds that so many fall victims to the 

 predatory habits of vermin. It is not in the mere transfer- 

 ence of the process that the danger lies, but in the keeper's 

 inability to persuade the birds to adapt themselves to such 

 conditions as will afford them the best protection that nature 

 can provide. In other words, success depends upon the early 

 roosting of the birds, more especially in those instances where 

 foxes and game have an equal share of preservation. 



That a gamekeeper is seriously handicapped in fox- 

 hunting districts is irrefutable, nevertheless he is expected 

 to discharge the dual obligation of protecting one of his 

 greatest enemies, namely, the fox. Many extraordinary 

 stories have been told concerning this matter, but the con- 

 scientious keeper has a duty to perform towards the fox- 

 hunter, and the man who commits vulpicide does, if found 

 out, not find his future of the pleasantest order. There is 

 a considerable diversity of opinion as to what is the best 



