306 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



its rising before us, even from the thickest covert, 

 and it is only by the driving system that a fair 

 proportion of Red-legs are to be brought to bag; 

 they are at all times cunning, and very apt to run for 

 a corner if they have heard shots fired to their proper 

 front, but when once they have decided on their line 

 of flight no amount of shooting will turn them when 

 on the wing, and where one or two have " come 

 over " the great majority in the drive will continue 

 to come. We have often, when standing behind a 

 low fence for a drive, seen the " Frenchmen" making 

 good running straight for us till nearly within shot, 

 when they would pause, squat, and on hearing shots 

 or seeing the head of a gunner above the fence creep 

 ofi" in a crouching manner to right and left. If they 

 are observed to run with their beaks open their 

 " wind " is exhausted, and they will not rise, but run 

 for the nearest covert, and often in such cases take 

 refuge in a covered drain or a rabbit-burrow. The 

 flight of the Red-leg is very much faster than it 

 appears to be, and this bird sometimes comes along 

 on wing with an indescribable look of being wounded, 

 which is somewhat puzzling, as no doubt it is intended 

 to be. We, on one occasion, marked down a Red- 

 leg, which had not been shot at, into some thick 

 sedge on the bank of our river near Lilford, and on 

 taking a dog to the spot the bird jumped into the 

 water, swam easily for a few yards, scrambled out 

 again on a bare place, and took wing as if nothing 

 unusual had happened, and on another occasion, in 

 the " Broad" district of Norfolk, we saw two of this 

 species swimming with apparent ease and equanimity 

 on a brimful marsh-ditch. 



The Red-legged Partridge frequently perches on 



