PARTRIDGE. 71 



setters. Some prefer one kind, some the other. Setters are generally considered to have 

 a finer scent than pointers; and to be capable of enduring more fatigue when they have 

 access to plenty of water. But whatever dog is chosen, the sportsman must, if be wishes 

 for success in the field, follow the advice given at page 47, under the head of lied Grouse. 



Several instances have at different times been given of birds which had been shot at, 

 but were actually flying off, suddenly falling to the ground with a wing broken. Mr. 

 A. Hussey has mentioned two such cases in the "Zoologist," one of which related to a 

 Partridge. Mr. C. St. John has also mentioned the Wild Swan and the Mallard as having 

 fallen to his gun in a similar way. The explanation of this fact is, no doubt, that a 

 single shot had struck the bone of the wing, and either splintered or slightly cracked 

 it, so as to weaken it, but not sufficiently to disable the wing. On the bird using all 

 its powers to escape, the weakened bone gives way, and the poor bird falls to the ground. 

 It cannot, however, be of very frequent occurrence. 



We have seen at various times numerous records of the extraordinary destruction of 

 birds by sportsmen on particular occasions. These exploits have always appeared to us 

 to savour but little of the true spirit of sporting. What pleasure there can be in killing 

 twenty, thirty, or even eighty-eight brace in a day we cannot conceive :* let us have the 

 gratification of shooting three or four brace, and of seeing our dogs performing well ; while 

 we also are able to enjoy the scenery around us, and we envy no man such wholesale 

 butcheries; the recollection of such a day's work would never leave us; we never have 

 engaged, and we hope we never shall, in any similar abuse of the gun. 



In preserving Partridges, it is absolutely essential that the old cock birds be kept 

 down within proper limits; if this is not the case the contests for the hen birds are so 

 great that incubation is seldom perfected. On this subject Daniel says, "According to 

 Kay, there are one-third more male than female Partridges hatched; and it is well known 

 the old cocks will drive the young off the ground, and afterwards frequently fight until 

 they kill each other. (Partridges, in this respect, differ from Pheasants; they will have 

 a certain range to themselves, whilst Pheasants will hatch and live quietly witli their 

 broods close together.) When too many birds are left, these contentions are sure to 

 happen; and the consequence is a scanty produce, for the female is so pursued, that 

 she drops her eggs in various places, forming no nest, and perhaps never laying two 

 eggs in the same spot. So well aware was the Duke of Kingston of this circumstance, 

 that he always had the Partridges netted upon his manors as soon as paired, and 

 destroyed all the cocks. The late Mr. Doughty, of Leiston, who was an excellent and 

 most observant sportsman, once preserved an overstock of old Partridges, and declared 



* This extraordinary number of birds was shot by Mr. William Coke on the 4th. of October, 1823, in Norfolk. 

 The only palliation for this abominable slaughter is that it was for a wager with Lord Kennedy, who also shot a 

 very large number of birds, but not so many as Mr. Coke. 



