EVERLASTING QUESTION 129 



quantities it has a decided tendency to 

 make birds heavy, lazy and inclined to 

 roost on the ground. 



Once the bulk of the birds have safely 

 reached the stage of roosting in the trees, 

 there is little chance of their suffering any 

 serious hurt from foxes, so long as they 

 keep strong and healthy. 



In the shooting season the fox has still 

 to be reckoned with as a possible mar- 

 plot ; many a good rise of pheasants has 

 been spoilt by his untimely appearance, 

 while hunt and hounds in the coverts 

 do little to encourage the pheasants to 

 stay at home. The disturbance probably 

 counts for little when the hunt only 

 passes through the woods in the course of 

 a run, but becomes rather a serious matter 

 when hounds are drawing a covert — so 

 serious indeed that many game-preservers 

 have insisted on closing their coverts to 

 the hunt until the pheasants have been 

 shot. Quite frankly it seems impossible 

 to say whether they are morally justified 

 in doing this, but in any case it seems 



