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8 



latter cases twenty-three young were hatched, and four more of the eggs were found to have fully 

 formed live birds in them. When the eggs are near hatching, and the bird is disturbed, it is 

 said to remove them ; and there are instances recorded which tend to prove that this is the case. 

 The young are able to run as soon as they are hatched, and hide when disturbed. Both the 

 male and the female tend the young, and exhibit the greatest anxiety should any danger threaten, 

 using every stratagem to deceive and entice away the intruder. 



The Partridge is one of the most valued game-birds, and is therefore everywhere carefully 

 preserved. The old method of shooting over dogs is now, comparatively speaking, but little 

 followed, owing to the great alteration in the mode of agriculture that has taken place during 

 the last twenty years. Referring to this, Mr. Stevenson writes (B. of Norf. i. p. 424) as follows: — 

 " That those who were accustomed in the ' good old days ' to kill Partridges after this fashion, 

 more especially since the chief enjoyment of that time consisted in watching and profiting by 

 the sagacity of the dogs, should regard the present system with but little favour is natural 

 enough ; but why sneer at the taste of younger men who have adopted from necessity, and not 

 from choice, the shooting en battue of the last twenty years 1 What sport, I would ask, with 

 even the best-trained dogs, would be afforded now on our closely mown stubbles'? or, beyond a 

 few ' points ' here and there in a large field of turnips, what chance of a bag when the birds, 

 once alarmed, commence running in all directions along the open drills'? There is but little 

 harbour in our highly cultivated lands ; and the trimmed fences, in many places, afford scarcely 

 shelter enough for a wounded bird. The ' four-course ' system also, though a fine institution for 

 farming-purposes, often puts the sportsman to much difficulty, his success depending greatly on 

 the position of the crops — a very common answer to inquiries on any Partridge-farm, at the 

 commencement of the season, being ' We have plenty of birds, but the turnips lie so awkward 

 this year.' Under these circumstances, then, the gunners have but little chance of sport except 

 by walking in line with the beaters ; and unquestionably there is no comparison between the 

 difficulty of such shooting and that under the old system, as the birds rise unexpectedly and at 

 uncertain distances. By this method, now universally adopted both in the enclosed and more 

 exposed portions of the county, very fine shooting is obtained on the wide open heath-lands in 

 the western and south-western districts, when the birds, bred on the adjacent corn-lands, are 

 either found basking on the outskirts, or are driven on from the neighbouring stubbles. The 

 guns and beaters, advancing in line, drive the game forward into the nearest coverts ; and here 

 and there, though often at long intervals, thick belts of gorse and broom offer a fatal shelter to 

 the birds, and a hot fusillade and a rapid addition to the bag repay the toil of the sportsman. 

 Later in the season, however, when the birds become 'packed,' as it is termed (large coveys 

 consorting together for mutual safety), the ' driving ' system, before referred to, is now commonly 

 adopted for both English and French birds. This is certainly the perfection of sport for those 

 possessed of the necessary quickness and skill ; but to the uninitiated, at least, it is nervous work, 

 standing under shelter of a fence or a lift of hurdles drawn with gorse, and peering anxiously 

 through the prickly screen to watch the motions of the driving party. Coveys and single birds 

 are marked down at different points ; and presently the beaters, spreading' out in line, are coming 

 on. Now is the time ! never mind that noisy heart of yours, that will thump, thump, like an 

 eight-day clock. Keep your eyes open, grip your gun-stock tight. Whish ! Here they, come ! 



