the straight he tried to come up on the inside of Mr. George Lambton, who naturally refused to pull out, the result being that Roddy's head came into extremely forcible contact with the post. He returned to the paddock bleeding freely, and a few moments afterwards I went into the gentleman-riders' room to see how he was. He was bathing his cuts, but, good-temperedly as ever, remarked to me, 'It was entirely my own fault. Of course George was quite right not to give way!'

The last letter I had from poor Roddy was from Quetta, full of chaff and cheeriness as usual. You've probably forgotten my existence,' he wrote. See me now, in the bosom of my regimental family, anxious, as usual, to further their interests, not my own. To this end I send you some sketches of native cavalry life. The artist, Private MacNeil, of my regiment, shows, I think, great promise, and if you think so, do use your influence to secure their reproduction. Signs of genius in Tommy Atkins, even of an elementary kind, should receive encouragement if we are to raise him, as sanguine soldiers hope, to a level by which he will attain the respect of the world in peace-time; so do what you can! I was fortunate, as special correspondent, in seeing the Chitral Campaign and other things to advantage. My eyes are now turned homewards, and I think it likely my body will follow. I have, however, come in for some red-tape criticism from the authorities for crossing the frontier to the Pamirs without leave, and coming in contact with the Russian and Afghan outposts, by which I was enabled to inform the Government of some things they did not know before; but the world is ungrateful to its most loyal servants-even jockeys don't like your getting in front of them! 'Yours ever,

That visit to the outposts was just the sort of thing in which the bold Roddy delighted-especially when encouraged by the knowledge that he ought not to be there.

THE LITTLE BROWN BIRD

TAKE him all in all, the partridge is probably the most popular game bird in these islands. Even the extreme Radical hesitates to attack him, unless legitimately with a gun. He-the partridge, not the Radical-is admirable when alive, and acceptable when dead. Modest and unassuming in demeanour, sober in hue, lacking the pride of carriage of the pheasant

and the aggressiveness of the grouse, he nevertheless surpasses the former in edible and sporting value, and runs the latter bird hard as regards the amount of amusement and exercise he affords to the generality of gunners in the British Isles.

To comparatively few is it given to pursue grouse, but many are able to spend cheery days circumventing the partridge by either walking or driving. Hence the undoubted popularity of

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that little game bird. Moreover, what friendly things are partridges, apart from any sporting view! They share with many of the smaller wild birds the preference for nesting as near a beaten track as possible, and often, if reasonable convenience offers, select a grass field close to habitations wherein to rear their brood. Nothing is prettier than to see a number of young partridges with their parent birds feeding and playing on the lawn of a country house. But should any covey be educated to thus place their faith in human beings, sanctuary should be granted them, and, as far as practicable, they should be saved from the fate which ordinarily awaits a partridge.

As a rule our little friend is anything but a foolish bird about taking care of himself, except under certain conditions; and to watch a covey, when startled, say, in a roughish grass field, run and then 'squat,' is to appreciate how marvellously Nature has taught her creatures to avail themselves of the best methods of self-preservation, and to mark the assimilation of colour between bird and ground, which so largely contributes towards this end. Only a very practised eye can find a covey when they have thus squatted' in a tussocky field or in light-ploughed land, though when first seen they were conspicuously evident.

Again, to the other attractions possessed by the partridge must be added the fact that even nowadays the farmer does not grumble at his presence. As one worthy tenant said to me last year when I met him out shooting, 'they' (the partridges) 'don't do me any harm;' and this, I take it, is the general feeling amongst the farming interest. But nothing is wholly perfect in this world, and the poor partridge has one serious sin to answer · for. It is this: that, owing to the competition now existing among the owners of great shootings as to who shall obtain the heaviest 'driving' bags during the season, partridge-'egging' is largely carried on in various parts of the country, thus encouraging that worst class of poacher, the 'Egger.' I know of several centres noted for this miserable trade, which, if necessary, I could mention, and I blame very gravely those who tell their keepers that they must increase their stock of birds somehow, as they want to beat some one else's score in the coming shooting season, but who take no trouble to enquire how this object is going to be effected. In some cases I have reason to believe that arrangements-naturally secret ones have been made by the head keepers to procure eggs from off lands belonging to adjacent proprietors, thus saving the cost of long carriage and minimising the chances of breakage. Now what can possibly be a more