162 GAME PRESERVERS AND BIRD PRESERVERS. 



afiair of lionour with a gentleman witli a ring 

 round his neck. The wilder birds would ar- 

 rive quietly on foot. These were the poor rela- 

 tions, and they did not seem quite sure of their 

 welcome ; but there would be more than fifty 

 by the time the keeper appeared with the corn, 

 when a few old favourites would run to his feet, 

 the greater numbei: disappearing in great pre- 

 tended alarm, only to return in a few seconds. 

 We feared no poachers but cats and stoats, and 

 except on the other side of a loch two miles 

 wide no guns but our own were ever fired 

 within eight miles in every direction. 



If pheasants are to appear on our tables in 

 any number — and we fancy few really wash to 

 banish them — they must be reared under do- 

 mestic hens, and then left in a state of freedom. 

 When fit to kill, whether they shall all be 

 driven into nets and have their necks twisted, or 

 whether they shall be shot at, when at least 

 thirty per cent, will probably escape, is surely 

 for the owner to decide. If he shoots them he 



