198 



BIRDS. 



wliicli, it were maudlin sentimentality to deny, the bird 

 levies terrible toll. Even those who are bound to keep it 

 under cannot but admire the great beauty of its plumage, 

 the blue-and-green body, the white throat, and the reddish 

 l)atch at the side of the head; but even admiration cannot, 

 or should not, blind us to faults, and water-bailiffs have a 

 perfect right in their masters' interests to shoot or trap 

 the kingfisher. The only hope is that the gun may miss 



fire as often as possible, and that the traps may at least be 

 humane and constructed with due regard to the fact that, 

 whereas four-footed vermin are usually caught by the head 

 or body and crushed outright, birds are as often as not 

 caught by the leg, and may thus linger through hours of 

 horril)le pain. The trapper should also be at least merciful 

 enough to do the round of his traps every few hours, so as 

 to put his victims out of their pain as soon as possible. If 

 writers in general would only have the goodness to regard 



