NATURE AND THE GAMEKEEPEB. 195 



old system of slaying them is common enough. They 

 have defied not only gun and trap, but the cunning 

 noose placed at the mouth of their holes. 



Twenty creatures, furred and feathered, have under- 

 gone severe persecution since the extension of pheasant 

 covers, and of these the first nine have more or less 

 succumbed — namely, pine-marten, polecat, eagle, buz- 

 zard, falcon, kite, horned owl, harrier, and raven. The 

 remaining eleven have survived — namely, stoat, weasel, 

 rat, crow, kestrel, sparrowhawk, brown and barn owl, 

 jay, magpie, and woodpecker. Pheasants of themselves 

 are not responsible for all this warfare and all these 

 changes; but the pheasant-cover means more than 

 pheasants, or rather has done. Rabbits required even 

 more protection from furred enemies; the head of 

 rabbits kept up in man}^ places practically paid the 

 keeper's wages. This warfare in its fiercest form may 

 be roughly said to be coeval with the invention of the 

 percussion gun, and to have raged now for over half 

 a century. The resistance, therefore, of the various 

 species has been fairly tested, and we may reasonably 

 conclude that no further disappearance will take place, 

 unless by the destruction of woods themselves. One 

 new bird only has been introduced into England since 

 the pheasant — the red-legged partridge — which seems 

 to be fairly established in some districts, not to the 

 entire satisfaction of sportsmen. One new bird has 

 also been introduced into Scotland — in this case a 

 re-introduction. The magnificent capercailzie is now 

 flourishing again in the north, to the honour of those 

 who laboured for its restoration. In these notes I 

 have not included attempts at acclimatization, as that 



