46 GAME rRESERYERS AND BIRD PRESERVERS. 



calculate the indirect destruction, as each bird 

 killed between February and June is either father 

 or mother and a whole brood is lost ? And are 

 assemblies to pass laws for the preservation of 

 birds, to prevent schoolboys and bird-catchers 

 from killing them, and yet preserve these 

 creatures ? ' Save us from our friends,' must 

 be our poor birds' cry. 



The large hawks often liunt in couples. 

 Once in India a flock of teal came towards us, 

 high in the air, and two fell to our shot. As 

 they were falling we heard a rushing noise, 

 which our companion afterwards compared to 

 the fall of a 21 -inch shell, and as the teal fell at 

 our feet, hterally in the rebound each was seized 

 by an enormous hawk, and carried off; but 

 we shot the leading bird, and his mate then 

 dropped her prey and escaped. It was quite 

 common for kites to pick up our snipe wliile 

 we were loading ; but these hawks were evi- 

 dently following the teal before we fired, and 

 we always noticed when they dashed in among 



