Definition of "covies"

"Fine shooting," again muttered Lord Merton; "and if I knew Lord Etheringhame, he might ask me to shoot over his grounds." Campbell talks of the magic of a name—yes, if the name be partridges. "Well, Adelaide; but how do you mean to contrive it?" […] A lingering hope of the covies gave unusual animation to her brother's manner, when he hoped their acquaintance was only begun: […]

1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter III, in Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], pages 34 and 37