Star.
London, England, 1828-05-12 00:00:00

SPORTING INTELLIGEIICI• •

CHESTER RATES, MA* I. -
The St, Leger Suites 0(23 was. each, Int three yr aids ; csiliclet
tilb ; and allies, est 51b. Once resod sad a distlipe:...
Sir G. Pigat's Chester RUT ... ... .t. 1
Mr. Yates names Mr. ilouldswortre Tabor .. ... 11
Sir T. Stanley's br e by Filbo ...
Mr. Clifton's La Danseuse ...
Sir T. Mostyn's Sine qua non •• • •• • • • 0
Sat W. Wynne's Stapeley .. olio •.• 0
Beautiful race, woo by a anelt-altlis 4 on Terror ; A to 2 apt
Chester BiUy ; it to 1 apt La Demesne; 5 to i apt be eby Fills*.
A Sweepstakes of 25 *ova. each, for two yr olds; dolt% list 31b;
fillies, list. Three quarters of a mile.
Sir T. Mostyn's Mona's Pride ... ..
Lord Greevenar's bf by Mister Henry ... „..
.. 2
Mr. Mytton's The Crofts -. •.. ..
Mr. George Gibson's b e by Fib° . .
Two paid-2 to 1 apt bf by Master 'Henry ; 2 tot apt Mopes
Pride; 3 to I apt The Crofts; 5 to 1 apt b e by Fab.
A Free Handicap, of 50 govt. 10 sOvi. ft. for five yr olds. *la, and -
aged horses: . Two miles.
Sir T. Stanley's Dr. Faustosol.yrs, Sit litly ... walked over
Three paid.

A Cup, value £lO in speck, tie gift of the Right Hon. Earl Tiros.
vector, the best of three heats, three times round the coarse to a
heat, to start at the Coming-in Chair ; three yr olds, Bst 41b
four, Sat; five, Sat 121 b ; six and aged, list Sib. Mares, &c.
allowed
Mr. Clifton's Harriet, 6yn .. ... I 1
Lord Derby's Burlador, 4in ... S dr
Seven drawn—e to I arid S to S on Harriet.
FIELD-SPORTS FOR MAY.
raoac TAN ANNALS Or SPORTINCL
" She cometh cheerily; the laughing May— '
Flowers In her hand: and her soft breath is balm,
That dries the tears of April into calm,
And sweetens Nature's ripening bohday.
All things are glad to see her. Village swains
Beneath bet Influence re-assume their sports,
And, thinking nought of tinsel-pomps of count,
To quoits or cricket hie in merry trains;
The Archer strings again his pliant bow,
And at the bull's eye the winged arrowlies;
The Angler hies where rippling waters So*,
And the red trouts at the fall's insect rise.
The Course, and Otter-hunter own her sway,
And Pastime shouts ' a merry month is Mar.'“—J. F. S.
Strictly speaking, the present month may be regarded as a
period of considerable rest for the sportsman; though as far as re-
gards the Senors, It is the most important time of the year; his
future prospects mainly depending upon the breeding season, and
as far as relates to the (gathered game, particularly upon that part
of it which is occupied In the process of incubation. Grouse, both
black and red, approach each other for the business of coming-
' ing the species at an earlier period than either the pheasant or the
'partridge, and, by the middle or latter end of May, are, in a great
measure, secure from danger, the young birds being then tolerably
strung : indeed, instances are not wanting where young grouse have
been seen on the wing as early as the month of April. Partridges
seldom break the shell before the latter end of \lay, and the great
er general hatching takes place about the middle of June, some-
times perhaps a little earlier. In our rambles on the 1716 of March,
in the present year, we discovered the nest of a partridge, contain.
ing one egg, which, however, would have escaped our notice, but
for the acute olfactory organs of a canine companion. A pointer.
belonging to the writer made a very steady set, at a short utstanee
from, and ultimately led him to, the nest, formed in the bottom or
a rough hedge, an the property of the Earl of Sefton. During the
whole of our experience (something more th in forty years), we never
met with a similar circumstance; that is, of a putridge depositing
her eggs at so early a period of the season. Two such breeding
seasons as those of 1826 and 1827, as far as relates to abundance,
dwells not in our recollection, at least in succession; it were almost
too much to expect that the present would he equally propitious.
Partridges are in the greatest danger from about the 20th to the
end of the month of May. The eggs are then more susceptible of
destruction, in ease of wet weather, because, in the first place, the
period is to be regarded as the early stages of incubation ; and, in -
the next, vegetati.m is seldom sufficiently advanced to afford that
protection to the nest, or at least to its contents, which, in the be.
ginning of June will generally be found. .Early mowing cannot be
otherwise than destructive to young game, particularly to partridges
sod pheasants ; and in order as far as possible to remedy the mis-
chievous effects of the scythe, many keepers very judiciously con-
trive to have a number of domestic hens prepared fur the purpose,
under which they convey those eggs which the operations of the
husbandman have laid bare and exposed to otherwise inevitable
destruction. •

There is ao old proverb among gamekeepers, that " the more
game is killed the more there will be.' This observation, which •
appears ridiculous enough at first glance, is worthy of consideration
and the gist of it Is, that (speaking of partrtiges) when a great num-
ber of birds are left at the end of the shooting season, fewer will be
found the following season than as if .a different system had been ,
adopted, and the breeding birds reduced to comparatively few in •
number. When any manor is thickly stocked to the breeding seamm,
the coveys, generally speaking, will be small ; that is, consist of few
individuals; oa the contrary, when few birds are left from which
to breed the coveys will be large, f. e. consist of numerous indivi-
duals. The reason is obvious; the season of love is also the season
of jealousy ; and where many birds are kit, instead of pairing and
proceeding quietly with the process of nestling, the males are con.
stantly fighting, harmony becomes confusion, and rivalry reigns pro. •
dominant. The future progeny suffer in consequence.
The same observations will apply, in some degree, to the phea.
sant, though the male bird is wore capricious in bis attachment • •
and, like the stacwanders from one willing beauty to another, till be
becomes completely exhausted with fruitiln: the former will,it is said,
destroy the calf if it comes in his way; if the cock pheasant dues nut
exactly imitate the stag in this respect, he is perfectly regardless of
his offspring, and leaves the care of the young and rising family en-
tirely to the female.
It will frequently occur, in some districts, that more etch par-
tridges than bees are left; and when this happens. these nape:Auntie
male birds associate, and will, at the beginning of the. ensuing
shooting Option, be found, in what, for the watt of a better reprees
slon, may be termed small coveys, and the individuals of which
these small coveys are composed ate called old bachelors. In like
manner, an extra number of male red grouse will frequently be found
on the moors • which, however, ate less social than the partridge;
these are found &knit, and are to be met with very often, sitting •
spots little elevated tufts of heath ur grass akrroundud by
.water.
The breeding of snipes In this country is continua enough; though,
beyond all question, by far the greater part of these birds quit these
islands and traverse the ocean for that purpose. Snipes were not.
remarkable for abundance during the season that bas just passed
away. Dottrels frequently make their appearance in the fens and ,
oa the heaths and moms of this country during the month of April
and the early part of May, and are shot as often as.an oppor.•
tunity offers.
Wild ducks come early together for the purpose of procreation;
yet, as they occupy a considerable period in the choice of a situation,
the formation of a nest, laying and incubation, the young are seldom
excluded before the middle or latter end of June, and do rot get oil
the wing till late in August.
Hares never bred more abundantly than in the spring and sum.
mer of 1827, and small le were found by the pointers in the
month of September. Many were killed dialog the semony and
many died in the course et the winter of a disease emphatically
enough called the rot.
• Rabbits merit little notice. Is this place, unless on the eau* of.
constituting food for foxes, and giving an occasional days sport to
shooting parties not of the Arse consequence. The amazing fecun-
dity of these animals is well known; in all fox hunting countries
there should be rabbits, in which case even the pheasant preserver
has little or nothing to fear from the mischievous propensities of
the fox. The rabbit may be regarded as his naturat.food ;he cant
pursue him and dig him out of his hole, if constrained by hunger,
Foxes will not fail to breed well and multiply, if unmolested:
the female brings forth from three to six cubs, and seldom, if ever,
breed snore than once during the year. The dog fox rambles much
in pursuit of his mate, and in all probability, hell no repugnance to
promiscuous intercourse; though instances are not wanting where.
he has manifested the utmost attention to the helpless cubs, the
female having been killed. Hence it would appear that the dug
and bitch fox frequently, if not always, continue together daring
the breeding season ; and that the former evinces the same kind of
parental solitude as is shown by the male partridge towards his
tieing offspring.
The badness of the Turf will now become very animated; and
we shall, 'according to custom, give every thing interesting or
worthy of notice, on the subject. Liverpool bids fair to attain as
pre-eminent a distinction in the kaiak of the Turf as she has
Already acquired in those of commerce : the 'obsidians of this very
spirited place seldom do thing, by haves; and on a reference to
the Race List, it wilt be seen that no town in so short a time ever
devoted so muck asooey for the encouragement of the noble emu-
lation of .the Turf as the one just mentioned.
pie Archer new•cammence4, too, his elegant amusement, and the
Otter-hunter the pursuit of the thief of the waters; in fact, this is
the period when
" Pastime shouts' a merry month is MAT."

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tied

The ions. of Mrs. Crompton, Bryanston-square, wa•
robbed early on Friday morning of jewels end plate
wrath upward, of 4001. •

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