6 FEBRUARY 1942, Page 11

The Armistice

The close season, which begins after, not on, the first day of February, proved for once in a way not too late. The partridges showed more inclination to pack than to pair, and for the first time in some districts big congregations of birds were then first seen. The drift of birds to the South was sharply accentuated, and a good many, including woodcock, arrived across the North Sea. There seems to be fair ground for hope that the extension of the close season for geese and duck, secured largely by the energy of the international com- mittee, will arrest the supposed decrease in numbers. Widgeon are certainly very numerous.