INTRODUCTION 



THE total area (including water) of the United Kingdom is 77,498,955 

 acres. Over, on or in, this extent of land and water are found the 

 wild or semi-wild mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians em- 

 braced in the following pages. These denizens of the cliffs, marshes, 

 rivers, brooks, and lakes, wastes, mountain and heath, land under 

 crops and grass, woods and plantations, orchards and gardens, 

 exercise beneficial, neutral and harmful influence, according to their 

 respective proclivities, upon the culture and produce of crops. 

 The cultures practised are five, viz. sporting, fishing, forestry, 

 farming and gardening. 



SPORTING, we may assume, was primarily originated by man 

 to procure animal produce such as deer, wild boar and hare, among 

 mammals ; and among birds, the bustard, cock-of-the-wood, L black- 

 cock, grouse, partridge, pigeon, geese and ducks, thus representing 

 ground and winged game pursued for diversion and food. The 

 pursuit of these nature-provided food creatures was, however, inter- 

 fered with by wolves, foxes, and other flesh-eating and blood- 

 sucking animals, also by eagles, hawks, and other birds of prey. 

 These, therefore, as militating against the presence of the animals 

 and birds desirable as affording pastime and food were hunted, 

 trapped, captured and destroyed as vermin. Thus, we arrive at 

 the definitions : game wild animals good for food, called ground, 

 and wild birds of edible quality, termed winged ; vermin wild 

 animals of carnivorous habits, called ground, and wild birds of a 

 rapacious nature, termed winged. 



In sporting, the dog appears the first aid employed by the sports- 

 man in the capture of the food-supplying animals, and also in the 

 decimation of the beasts of prey. Of the former description were 

 and still are the deer-hound, boar-hound, hare-hound or harrier, and 

 greyhound. Of the latter were the wolf-hound, the wolf not being 

 finally extirpated in England till 1350, in Scotland till 1600, and 

 in Ireland till the beginning of 1700, the fox-hound and otter-hound, 

 both still in vogue, with the terrier, for the purposes of sporting 

 and destruction of vermin. 



The horse also was requisitioned at an early date to enable the 

 hunter to follow hounds and be up at the capture or kill of the 



