GAME-LAWS 261 



the right to devise laws for their protection and 

 preservation. While landowners may claim title 

 to any birds reared by artificial means, they can- 

 not kill them except during specifically stated 

 seasons. 



Birds thus reared, however, belong to the land 

 on which they live, and any income derived from 

 them goes to the property holder. In this way 

 considerable sums are returned either by the sale 

 of dead game in season or by leasing the shooting 

 privileges of the land. To give some idea of the 

 actual value in terms of money of these " shoot- 

 ings, " the gross rental of grouse moors in Eng- 

 land and Scotland between 1905 and 1911 was 

 estimated as returning 1,270,000 annually to 

 their owners. 



While this system of game-laws tends to make 

 it difficult for any person not endowed with wealth 

 to shoot, it prevents the extinction of upland game 

 which would follow if, in such a densely popu- 

 lated country as England, every able-bodied man 

 entered the field with a gun. Water-fowl, on the 

 other hand, are entirely the property of the state, 

 and any one may shoot them if he will pay the 

 license fee required. 



2 



Laws of America 



The present American game-law system, though 



