WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS 



from the slaughter of 6000 hand-reared pheasants in a win- 

 terday of 1 9 1 3- 14. Those who are concerned for the welfare 

 of field-sports may be excused for feeling some misgiving 

 about the inevitable consequences of over-doing it. Some 

 degree of generous emulation is natural and pardonable 

 among sportsmen; but sheer competition has no place in 

 field-sports, and the very spirit of sport is in danger of be- 

 ing quenched by the prevailing craze for record-breaking. 

 One cannot put the clock back nor revive the habits and 

 tastes of a byegone generation; yet even in our era of 

 "speeding up" and record-breaking, there are readers who 

 will find it refreshing to be led by Charles St John through 

 the solemn woods of Altyre, by the salmon pools of Find- 

 horn, over the desolate sand-hills of Culbin or the brown 

 moor of Drynachan, and listen to his discourse upon man 

 and beast (he had even a kindly word for poachers and 

 even for the animals which game-preservers class as ver- 

 min), birds and fishes. 



HERBERT MAXWELL 



Monreith, 1914. 



