We have had four brace of birds lately, in equal lots, from Shalden and Neatham.

I case you missed the discussion at Life and Times about what a brace of birds is, here is JulieW's post:

One female and one male Written by JulieW (January 1, 2009 ) in response to How many make a brace? by OliviaP
gamebird of whatever type equals a brace.

A couple means two birds of the same sex.

Mrs Lybbe Powys mentions "braces" and "couples" of gamebirds in the quoted post:

"…and yet, Mr Powys you shall judge if my larder will not hold out. I've three does ,a warrant gone for a fourth, three brace of pheasants, eight hares, six brace whistling plovers, twelve couple woodcocks, ten brace partridges ,a peafowl, two guineas fowls and larks without number and most of those sent for the occasion as I suppose without names!"

So...amongst others things she has three male and three female pheasants, six male and six female whistling plovers, 24 of the same sex woodcocks (very small birds,BTW) ten male and ten female partridges in her larder, do you see?

The picture above is a brace of pheasants.