COUNTRY LIFE
Peace-Time
The question is ,being considered whether the close season, which begins, oddly enough, on February znd, shall be post- poned. Partridges, the most perfect parents among birds, begin to pair in spite of frost and snow. Wild duck are not only in pairs ; some have begun to nest. It is to be hoped that these birds will be given the full term of grace, but pheasants are in a different class. They are useful rather than harmful to agriculture, in spite of a notorious accusation ; and have of late years been introduced into the highly intensive district of South Lincolnshire solely for their use as insect- killers. Elsewhere, if their numbers are still considerable, it may be best to add as many as possible to the national larder and follow a precedent established in the first year of the last war. There will be no spare grain for feeding purposes, and the lateness of the season, the prolongation of winter makes the postponement of the close season more plausible. Many of the game farms have been getting rid of their birds or treating them as poultry farms.
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