404 THE GROUSE IN HEALTH AND IN DISEASE 



and the gamekeeper, and it is to these that the present 

 chapter is more specially addressed. There is no doubt that 

 among game preservers, and more particularly amongst game- 

 keepers, there is a tendency to destroy indiscriminately. The 

 Committee has known a gamekeeper kill cuckoos, and receive 

 so much a head for them from his master because they had 

 barred feathers " like a hawk." Such a master was worthy of 

 such a servant ! 



Without entering into the polemics of this well-worn con- 

 troversy a few points not always put prominently forward may 

 be mentioned. In the first place, it may be suggested that 

 owing to the artificial conditions which have for years prevailed 

 on Grouse moors the natural laws have little direct bearing on 

 the point at issue. It is clear that if moor management has 

 accomplished anything, we have long ago passed beyond the 

 limit of stock that the moor would maintain if left entirely to 

 natural conditions. It is reasonable, therefore, to argue, that 

 if we have established and wish to preserve an unnatural stock 

 of Grouse, we must not return to the natural state of things. 

 The practical moor manager is not concerned with the laws of 

 natural selection and of the survival of the fittest, but rather 

 with the adaptation of these laws to his own special requirements. 

 The evidence of history affords a second and equally con- 

 clusive argument against the theory that the presence of vermin 

 is conducive to the health of the stock. Written records go to 

 show that even in the eighteenth century, long before game 

 preserving was introduced, Grouse were no less subject to disease 

 than they are at the present day, in spite of the fact that their 

 natural enemies were left undisturbed to keep the " undesir- 

 ables " in check. As a matter of fact the whole argument is 

 founded on an error. There is no evidence whatever that 

 Nature's so-called scavengers confine themselves to the destruc- 

 tion of the weaklings their tendency appears to be exactly 

 the reverse. Observation in the field goes to show that the 

 peregrine striking at birds on the wing more often than not 

 picks out the centre bird of the covey, and that the robber of 



