132 THE COMMON BUZZARD. 



herbage, which the rabbits were to eat, and spread an infection which was 

 to exterminate them. But M. Pasteur has not yet won the £25,000 offered 

 by the New South Wales Government to the man who stamps the rabbits 

 out. We know, however, that every living form, whether animal, fish, bird, 

 or insect, has its destroyer — from man, who kills all life, to the tiny parasite 

 which destroys those of similar form and habit as itself. One species is 

 always making war upon another. This is a wise provision of Nature to 

 prevent the increase of what would be scourges upon the rest of the world. 

 Many farmers think the mice plague has been caused by gamekeepers having 

 shot all the birds and animals which naturally prey upon the mice. And there 

 is no doubt that the xoholesale destruction of oivls, haivks, weasels, &c, has been a 

 potent cause of the mischief; but the balance of Nature has been interfered 

 with by farmers themselves destroying hedgehogs and moles, oblivious of 

 the fact that these prey upon mice as much as some of the others mentioned, 

 while they do additional service by keeping down injurious insects. 



The most effectual remedy for the mice plague will be to introduce as many 

 owls, hawks, iveascls, hedgehogs, moles, (be. — even if they have to be brought 

 from a distance at considerable expense to begin with. The inter-depend- 

 ence of different departments of Nature is at present curiously illustrated in 

 the Southern States of America. Alligators have been nearly exterminated 

 by sportsmen and hide-hunters. But it appears the ugly creatures had a 

 use in Nature, for, as they decreased in number, the musk-rats increased 

 till they, like the mice, became a plague in some districts ; and the local 

 authorities are now prohibiting the killing of an alligator under a fine of 

 £20 or a month's imprisonment. " 



All this is very instructive, to see what great mischief is done 

 by simply interfering with the wise balancing laws of Nature. 

 It is amusing to see the advocates of the farmer — in their 

 desperation — speak of restoring the birds of prey, after the 

 so-called sportsman and his minions have done their best to ex- 

 terminate them — falling back upon poison and other doubtful 

 expedients after the evil has been done through selfish, blinded 

 ignorance. Besides devouring mice, the buzzard is of great 

 service to the farmer in driving off the ring-doves from the corn. 

 He is accused of killing what is called game, and suffers 

 accordingly ; but the gleanings of the fields are not left to 

 maintain game alone, being shared by mice and small birds, and 

 yet the ]»oor buzzard is shot down when fulfilling the great end 

 for which he was created — setting bounds to their increase. 

 When will our senators see the errors of game laws, and the 

 evils they inflict on the lower creatures 1 Not till then will the 

 farmer experience the full benefit of our rapacious birds. Very 

 little seems to be known of the buzzard, or it would not be so 

 indiscriminately shot. Some writers, like St John in " Wild 

 Sports," describe it as being like the kite — "a carrion-feeder, 

 and seldom kills anything but small birds, mice, or frogs, except 

 during the breeding season, when it is very destructive to game." 

 Another, who kept one for two years in a large shed along with 

 several guinea-pigs and tame rabbits, believes it to be " wholly a 



