British Reptiles : Snakes — Two Turtles 



changing — gradual in its application and execution — 

 of conditions. It was no single-handed work that 

 killed off the Wolf, or sent the Bittern to Continental 

 quarters. As man cut down the forests and opened 

 the land-spaces, by the aid of plough and sickle, the 

 Wolf sheered behind the remnant of a fading security. 

 At the outer rim he perished. In more recent times the 

 haunts of the Bittern have been invaded, and the once 

 familiar, yet weird, call of the bird is now unknown in 

 our marshes. Man encroached upon the birds' domains 

 with shot and gun, and other deadly engines, and the 

 war ended in the bird leaving our shores. 



To-day the Wild Cat, Marten, and Pole-Cat stand 

 on the verge of extermination, not because they cannot 

 exist, but because they are denied a sanctuary. With- 

 draw all persecution, and these wild creatures will 

 multiply in the British shires. They can fight 

 their way to food, and make their own bed, but they 

 cannot, in the nature of things, face a deadly rifle. 

 The ingenious trap set warily for the unsuspecting 

 roamer is beyond the reasoning powers of the mammal, 

 and the creature gives up its life to the cunning of 

 man. Of all wild mammals indigenous to these islands, 

 the true Wild Cat deserves preservation, even where 

 game abounds. Yet Felis Catus has a price put upon 

 its head, and the newspapers placard their show-bills 

 announcing the death of one of the remaining few. 

 In like manner the slaughter of a Snake, however 

 innocent that creature may be, is recorded in the 



b.R. 33 5 



