192 SHOOTING THE PARTRIDGE 



these are all stolen, and the traffic should never be 

 encouraged by true sportsmen. 



Norfolk and Suffolk have been the principal hunt- 

 ing grounds of these people in the last few years, 

 and I do not hesitate to say that these counties are 

 most terribly ' egged.' I remember a few years ago, 

 having to wait some time for a train at Thetford, I 

 had a long conversation with the stationmaster on 

 this and kindred subjects. ' Ah, sir,' he said, ' it 

 would break any gentleman's heart who is fond of 

 shooting to see the scores of boxes of eggs that go 

 through this station in April and May. I know 

 what they are, but I have to put them in and forward 

 them ; I have no power to prevent it.' 



This is a very lamentable state of things, but it 

 will never be remedied until there is better and more 

 powerful combination among owners, sporting tenants, 

 and shooting men of every degree. There is, I 

 believe, a society called the Field Sports Protection 

 Association, but it has as yet achieved no very re- 

 markable results, though there are a few well-known 

 names on its list. But an idea of its management 

 may be gathered from the simple fact that two out of 

 every three shooting men you meet have never heard 

 of its existence or been asked to support it. 



What is wanted is a much more powerful federa- 



