i 7 i Partridges. 



mended. The smaller kinds are the best, and with it the 

 screenings of inferior quality but not inferior condi- 

 tioned foreign wheats are by far the best material to 

 employ. That is, in regard to the hand-reared birds as 

 and when they leave the coops. At a later stage, when 

 the fields become bare of grain, insect-food is running 

 short, and the innumerable multitude of weeds are dying 

 down, the young partridges having matured, it is practic- 

 ally only mature birds which have to be dealt with. It is 

 then that the partridges require most care and most feed- 

 ing. So long as the circumstances remain favourable, and 

 the weather keeps open, the birds suffer no particular 

 hardship, but except under special conditions, as provided 

 upon the great partridge manors, the modern practice of 

 agriculture is entirely opposed to the requirements of the 

 partridge. As stated previously, I place more import- 

 ance upon the proper care and provisioning of partridges 

 during the winter months, in regard to their prospective 

 health and fertility, than upon anything else connected 

 with the preservation of these game-birds. It is for this 

 reason that particular attention is devoted to what may be 

 termed the winter feeding of partridges. 



It is a widely-prevailing error that, except under very 

 abnormal circumstances, where a considerable stock is 

 maintained, partridges require little care during the winter 

 months. It is an entirely mistaken idea, and responsible 

 for many instances of " poor partridge prospects." As a 

 matter of fact, partridges will frequently starve and die 

 under adversities of weather which only subject pheasants 

 to comparatively short commons. The latter possess a far 

 larger dietary than do partridges, and where they require 

 winter feeding to keep them in good condition and up to 

 the mark, the smaller game-birds require it actually to 

 keep them alive. 



