Practical Game-Preservinf. 180 



partridges, are at times destroyed by it. I have even 

 known the mole to abstract the eggs, and take them 

 underground, but for what purpose I cannot say with 

 certainty. 



I fancy the moles burrowing under the nests are 

 attracted by the warmth of the sitting bird in the first 

 instance. Weasels working as they so frequently do in 

 mole-runs will carry the eggs off through the runs ; but 

 I have more than once found moles doing the same thing. 



The next cause of diminution in partridges is poach- 

 ing; but as the preserving of this game-bird differs 

 from that of the pheasant, so the style of poaching them 

 differs. Poachers rarely shoot partridges except they 

 belong to that class of men who poach for profitable 

 sport. The partridge poacher who works for the money 

 it brings in alone does not care for shooting. Netting 

 and snaring are more to his taste, and a remarkably good 

 hand he is at the business as a rule. Crafty to a degree, 

 he generally makes the game pay literally. His netting 

 is mostly a night performance, snaring or hingling a day 

 one; he knows where every covey " jucks," and can act 

 accordingly. Either the long-net drawn across the fields, 

 which involves the presence of two or more of a gang, 

 or the small net worked by one or two, is chiefly used, 

 the services of a suitably-trained dog being also often 

 brought to bear. 



To prevent this mode of netting, all fields where there 

 are partridges must be " bushed." Bushing consists of 

 fixing any kind of obstacles in the ground by which the 

 net may be torn, caught, or entangled. Bushes may con- 

 sist of any kind of thorny shrub, branches of blackthorn, 

 whitethorn, and thick brambles, the last-named fixed thin 

 end downwards. Plain stakes provided with a few pro- 

 jecting nails may also serve for bushing. Gamekeepers 



