BIEDS AND EEPORT OF COMMITTEE. 11 



sary for man to kill any wild creatures himself 

 or not ; and wlien we see how widely so many 

 gentlemen differ in their opinions we cannot 

 help feeling how httle practical natural history 

 is understood. 



It is not the number of inches which a bird 

 measures from the tip of its beak to the tip of 

 its tail which we want to know, nor even the 

 colour of its eggs, but whether its presence on 

 our land is an advantage to us or not. 



Many naturalists tell this Committee that our 

 gamekeepers are ignorant and cruel, and do 

 more harm than good. 



Then quite a number believe in a state of 

 things called the 'Balance of Nature,' with 

 which man should never interfere. 



We will examine this view of the subject in 

 the next chapter. 



Mr. A. Ellis would seem to belong to tliis 

 school. On 1,400 acres he allows ' nothing to 

 be destroyed except the grey rat.' These 

 gentlemen all wait until the birds and beasts 



