166 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES. 



unfailing sign of incipient domestication. They 

 are, however, said to be in great request with the 

 poachers, and some doubt exists among game- 

 keepers as to the expediency of preserving or de- 

 stroying them. Those who advocate the former 

 alternative, regard the simple fact of their surviv- 

 ing the season as a proof that their beat has 

 escaped the attentions of the nightly marauder ; 

 while the supporters of the latter assert that the 

 mere knowledge of their whereabouts must always 

 prove a dangerous attraction. For my own part, 

 if I thought that a compromise could be safely 

 entered into with those slippery sportsmen, to 

 whom knocking birds off their roost can afford 



" delight 



On a shiny night, 



In the season of the year." 



I should like to see them have a day all to them- 

 selves for the express purpose of exterminating 

 these poultry-looking pheasants. 



What a mistake it is to suppose that the phea- 

 sant is an enemy to tlie farmer ! True, he may 

 deal rather unceremoniously with newly sown 

 wheat-fields, and occasionally retard or frustrate 

 the labour of the bean-dibbler. He may, without 

 due regard to conventional usages, even venture to 

 anticipate the work of the sickle, and commence 



