8 SAND-MARTIN AND HOUSE-SPARROW. 



grous threw a summerset in the air, and fell lifeless among 

 the heather : he had received a retainer from Waring, 

 although at a distance of more than eighty yards : a single 

 shot, as we afterwards found, had lodged in his heart. 

 Dick threw up his hat, and shouted at the top of his voice, 

 " Well done Godalming ! " I shall never forget the scene: 

 Dick's keen relish for such an exploit overcame his itch for 

 the few shillings the hird would have brought him if it had 

 fallen into his own hands. I recollect on another occasion, 

 Waring bagged a 'gray hen,' and Mr. Sam Kidd another. 

 But the great destruction of the black game, and its con- 

 sequent scarcity, is attributable to the unceasing persecu- 

 tion of the broom-squarers, most of whom have old rusty 

 muskets, that once belonged to the volunteers. Armed 

 with these, they follow the birds day and night, especially 

 in deep snow, when it is easy to track them. 



Almost all our sand-banks are honey-combed by the 

 SAND-MARTIN ; but in many places the original excavators 

 have been dispossessed by the HOUSE SPARROW. This is 

 particularly the case at the Holloway-hill sand-bank, and 

 at Catherine Hill, between Godalming and Guildford. It 

 is the work of every spring to dig new burrows, for some 

 of the old ones are sure to be tenanted by sparrows before 

 the return of the rightful proprietors. This robbery seems 

 to be submitted to, almost as a matter of course. For a 

 few days we have a little chattering, a little scolding, a 

 little hustling, but no warfare : the hard horny beak of the 

 robber is too formidable a weapon for the weak and deli- 

 cate martin to contend with; so he bores a new hole by 

 the side of the old one, and lives on the best possible terms 

 with his neighbour the rogue who has turned him out of 

 house and home. With us, the sand-martins are grega- 



