64 GAME TRESEEVERS AND BIRD PRESERVERS. 



pulled off; his bones will not be broken, but 

 neatly picked. A long trail of feathers will 

 mark the place where he received his death- 

 blow. Then remember the message which 

 Eang John received when Eichard Coeur de 

 Lion escaped from prison : ' Take heed to 

 yourself; the devil has broken loose.' And 

 if you cannot kill this murderer, you will 

 find these signs of his presence whenever 

 you walk on the mountains. 



Would the gentlemen who wrote so 

 smoothly, ' Spare yoiu: birds of prey, parti- 

 cularly the falcon ; he will kill the weak 

 birds and leave the strong ones to breed,' be 

 contented to see their favourite poultry treated 

 in this manner? And every grouse killed 

 between February and July is a whole pack 

 off the ground in August. When they 

 have once paired and selected their breeding 

 ground, if they are killed, none come that 

 year to supply their place. In 1871, suspect- 

 ing that a pair of falcons had intended breed- 



