CORRESPONDENCE 199 



domesticated even in London. Outside my bed- 

 room window in the suburbs there is a large tree, 

 which is a great nuisance as regards making the 

 room dark, but which is the comfort of my life. 

 It is a kind of early club or breakfast-house for 

 birds of all kinds, and from daylight onwards the 

 chatter of the sparrows and low pipe of the starlings 

 and twittering of other birds is delightful. And 

 these hallowed precincts were threatened. A man 

 came to me one evening at Christmas, and, I must 

 say, very civilly asked leave to net my ivy for 'a 

 sparrow-shoot' on Boxing Day. He was astonished 

 when I told him he should not do it for a hundred 

 guineas. Now comes the question, Where do these 

 starlings and sparrows for matches come from ? 

 Stolen ! For I say that a man has no more right to 

 come into my premises and take my birds than I 

 have to go into his garden and take his flowers, and 

 we all know what a row ' the working man ' makes 

 if his rights are infringed. Sparrow and starling 

 matches mean beer, betting, cruelty, and drunken- 

 ness, as much as Hurlingham matches mean 

 cruelty, betting, tea, champagne cup, idleness, and 

 flirting. All these so-called sports are lowering 

 our national character. The monstrous over-pre- 

 serving and murderous battues have caused the 

 general public to look with perfect indifference to 

 the abolition of the Game Laws, though their over- 

 throw is brought about by men who know little 

 of the subject, and who promote their cause more 

 from spite than principle. A short law is now 



