58 THE RABBIT 



wilfully, between the expiration of the first hour after 

 sunset and the beginning of the last hour before sun- 

 rise, take or kill any hare or rabbit in any warren or 

 ground lawfully used for the breeding or keeping of 

 hares or rabbits,^ whether the same be enclosed or 

 not, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour : and whoso- 

 ever shall unlawfully and wilfully, between the begin- 

 ning of the last hour before sunrise and the expiration 

 of the first hour after sunset, take or kill any hare or 

 rabbit in any such warren or ground, or shall at any 

 time set or use therein any snare or engine for the 

 taking of hares or rabbits, shall, on conviction thereof 

 before a Justice of the Peace, forfeit and pay such 

 sum of money not exceeding five pounds as to the 

 Justice shall seem meet.' 



We shall have occasion later on to refer to further 

 points of law when dealing with other portions of the 

 general subject. 



Having now briefly glanced at the subject of 



' The ground must be used mainly for that purpose, for if 

 only a few rabbits are kept, for example, in a rick-yard mainly 

 used for other purposes, this offence would not be committed 

 {Regina v. Garratt, 6 C. & P. 369). In the case of Bevan v. 

 Hopkinson (34 L.T. 142), where B. was caught with rabbits at 

 night in a field forming part of a farm over which H. had the 

 right of shooting, the Justices found as a fact that this field was 

 not a warren within the meaning of this Act, and convicted B. 

 of night poaching, under 9 Geo. IV. c. 69, s. i. 



