THE POSTPONED FIRST.
The Irish Free State, in their new laws regulating sport, have given the partridges a longer lease of security. They may not be shot till the end of September. It is a reform which I have often urged for England, where one seldom sees a First go by without the killing if not of squeakers, of birds much too weak on the wing to be shot with either zest or profit. Another week or two of protection would be all to the good everywhere. Apart from either logic or biology, there is an unpleasant feel- ing about shooting while crops are still standing and harvest work is afoot. So much partridge-shooting is done by driving, that now the pointers and setters arc an almost vanished tribe there is less need than ever for the early start. This is not, however, a good year for pressing the point. Every covey that I have seen so far has been exceptionally strong on the wing. As for pheasants, never in my experience have I seen young birds so big and strong. Some early broods were nearly as big as their parents in early July. W. BEACH THOMAS.
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