The LoiNG-E^uiED Owl 



CHAPTER XVI 



In a Hampshire Village 



Going further into Hampshire I was by-and-by at a 

 spot which cannot be named owing to the fact that 

 I was there in quest of a rare and elusive Httle bird. 

 For we who desire to save our birds must keep the 

 private collector in mind; that injurious person who 

 is ever anxious to secure the very last British-killed 

 specimens of any rare species. And should a species be 

 near its end — in other words, should it be rare — then, 

 says the leader and lawgiver of all this rapacious gang, 



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