judgment he is wrong. Wallace, in his Darwinism, has shown that the death occasioned 
by creatures of prey is probably a painless one. Several cases are cited to prove this ; 
among them the well-known instance of Livingstone, who thus describes his sensations 
when seized by a lion: ‘*He caught my shoulder as he sprang * * he shook me asa 
terrier-dog does a rat. The shock produced a stupor similar to that which seems to be felt 
by a mouse after the first shake of the cat. It causes a sense of dreaminess in which there 
was 10 sense of pain or feeling of terror, though I was quite conscious.” 
If, therefore, we may conclude that the Shrike’s methods of obtaining food entail the 
least possible amount of suffering, we must at least acquit the bird of the charge of cruelty. 
But we may go farther than this and claim for the Shrike, and for all birds and animals of 
prey, that they actually confer a benefit upon the species, the individuals of which they 
kill. The victims which they seize and put to death are the least active and are generally 
those which are diseased. The vigorous and healthy escape, and since these perpetuate 
the race, increased vigor and health in the offspring result. 
John Watson, an English writer on game-birds, has shown that by the trapping and 
extermination of Eagles, Hawks, Owls, Weasels, etc., sportsmen interfere with the balance 
of power among wild creatures, and destroy the very agents appointed to keep the moors 
healthful. As the Otter takes the Salmon blinded by fungoid disease, so Hawks and 
the like capture the slowest of the Grouse. Now the slowest Grouse is such by reason of 
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