110 PHEASANTS 



the first place that a frank recognition of 

 the damage done by foxes to game is by 

 far the best poHcy. To set the fox on a 

 pedestal and say that anyone ought to be 

 proud to entertain him at the expense of 

 their pheasants cannot possibly be expected 

 to appeal to those whose tastes lie in a 

 different direction, but even that were far 

 better than the over-common habit of 

 seeking to minimize the amount of 

 damage done. 



Nothing is better calculated to irritate 

 and estrange master and keeper alike, who 

 may be conscientiously doing their best 

 for the hunting interest, than to have it 

 more than hinted that much of the damage 

 they seem to think they have sustained 

 either exists only in their own imagination, 

 or else is rightly attributable to other 

 agency than *the dog with a bad name.' 



The misdeeds of the fox are often 

 glaring ; and that the hunt authorities are 

 overfond of glossing them over is a 

 constant subject for complaint among 

 shooting men. One instance — easily 



