102 GAME PRESERVERS AND BIRD PRESERVERS. 



to a healthy one ; ' but is not this riding a 

 favourite hobby rather hard ? Certainly Long- 

 fellow tells US 



There is no fold so well tended but one sick lamb is there. 



But by what process of natural selection 

 does the fox discover him and make him his 

 prey ? Does he hide behind a rock and care- 

 fully examine the flock on the hill-side till he 

 discovers this unfortunate little beast, in the 

 same way that a deer-stalker carefully examines 

 the herd of deer with his glass until he decides 

 which is the finest stag? Or is a fox, who 

 could catch the stoutest wether on the hill in a 

 few seconds if he wished to do so, supposed to 

 chase the sheep until, after an arduous run of 

 some duration, the sick lamb's powers give way 

 and he falls into the jaws of the then nearly 

 exhausted pursuer, as some people imagine the 

 sickly grouse unable to fly as fast as the others 

 become the prey of the falcon ? But shepherds 

 tell us that the mountain sheep never run from 



