THE SACRED BIRD 89 



county, the shooting of which was let to a gentleman 

 who is greatly interested in the preservation of rare 

 birds, especially the hawks. I knew the ground well, 

 having received permission from the owner to go 

 where I liked: I also knew the keepers and (like a 

 fool) believed they would carry out the instructions of 

 their master. I informed them that a pair of hobby- 

 hawks were breeding in a clump of trees on the edge 

 of the park, and asked them to be careful not to 

 mistake them for sparrow-hawks. At the same time 

 I told them that a pair of Montagu's harriers were 

 constantly to be seen at a lonely marshy spot in the 

 woods, a mile from the park; I had been watching 

 them for three days at that spot and believed they 

 were nesting. I also told them where a pair of great 

 spotted woodpeckers were breeding in the woods. 

 They promised to "keep an eye" on the hawks, and 

 I daresay they did, seeing that both hobbies and 

 harriers had vanished in the course of the next few 

 days. But they would not promise to save the wood- 

 peckers: one of the under-keepers had been asked 

 by a lady to get her a few pretty birds to put in a 

 glass case, and the head keeper told him he could 

 have these woodpeckers. 



Did I in these cases inform the owner and the 

 shooting-tenant of what had happened ? No, and for 

 a very good reason. Nothing ever comes of such 

 telling except a burst of rage on the part of the 

 owner against all keepers and all interfering persons, 

 which lasts for an hour or so, and then all goes on as 

 before. I have never known a keeper to be discharged 



