76 FAUNA OF SHROPSHIRE. 



they came out; and somewhere between eighty and a 

 hundred were thus destroyed, most of which were eaten 

 by six dogs present. ' I used to kill scores of them,' he 

 adds, ' with a stick while walking over the hills. 1 The 

 same thing was observed, in a greater or less degree, 

 wherever the conditions of the ground were favourable to 

 them. A correspondent to a county paper relates that 

 when ' removing a two-years' crop of hay in the autumn 

 of 1875 from a meadow sloping down to the Bowmont, 

 on the farm of Sourhope, near Yetholm, two to four 

 nests were found under every rick, each with six to nine 

 young ones, the nest lying in a cavity from which runs 

 diverged in every direction. Great numbers were killed 

 by the boys assisting. One little fellow got seventy-nine 

 full-grown ones for his share, and his straw-hat was 

 brimful of young ones.' Their numbers, already redun- 

 dant, were augmented by the mild winter of 1875-6, 

 and in the succeeding spring they made their presence 

 felt in the doomed farms. During the three months 

 from February to April they completely destroyed the 

 pasturage of the bog-land in Borthwick water, and were 

 then driven to the bents. Notwithstanding the means 

 used for their destruction, which, however, were not 

 very skilful, the swarms showed little diminution. The 

 public journals suggested a trial of the plan which had 

 been so efficacious in the New Forest, where holes were 

 dug into which they fell, but the hint came too late. 

 More efficient auxiliaries appeared in the shape of 

 Hawks, Foxes, Weazels, &c., attracted by the abundant 

 prey. Buzzards, which have long been strangers to the 

 district, again made their appearance. A shepherd in 

 Eskdalemuir saw seven of the rough-legged species 



