HOW TO PRESERVE ALL BIRDS. 205 



for the sake of the argument we can imagine 

 this), should we cease to pursue them, or should 

 we find no pleasure in shooting them ? 



Does anyone honestly believe for a moment 

 that this would be the case ? 



But, on the other hand, if guns could be so 

 improved as to certainly kill or wound every 

 bird we shot at, we are perfectly certain that 

 their destruction would lose all interest, and 

 but few would ever follow them. 



It is the exhibition of skill and the achieving 

 what is difficult wliich gives the charm to 

 shooting, and we find an additional charm 

 when the pursuit of game leads us to wander 

 for days among the most beautiful scenes in 

 nature, and taxes our physical powers to the 

 uttermost. 



It is one of the healthiest signs of the age 

 that as wealth and luxury increase, and with 

 these the possibihty of leading a life of perfect 

 ease and indolence, in the Anglo-Saxon race a 

 love of all manly exercises seems to increase in 



