BY MANY HANDS 145 



had been inbred for 40 years without a single off cross. 

 Their courage in the pit was perfect, they were very 

 fast, and absolutely dead game. I never met with a 

 single runner in this strain, and I witnessed (this in a 

 whisper) many great mains against them in the United 

 States. 



This seems to prove the extent to which inbreeding can 

 be carried without any apparent deterioration. On the 

 contrary, this strain was improved, or rather maintained 

 its qualities by inbreeding, for when crossed with other 

 dead game strains there was always a certain percentage 

 of runners. 



It appears to me that the same law must apply to 

 certain game birds, especially those which do not spread 

 over a wide area, but cling to the spot where they were 

 born. Nature must have her own protective methods 

 against the extinction of species, which must of a necessity 

 breed and interbreed for ages. 



There are no foxes ; the climate is our worst enemy 

 here, heavy rainstorms in July generally destroying large 

 numbers of partridges. The common rook I find a good 

 second, but as they only take eggs, much can be done to 

 protect exposed nests, by putting pieces of brushwood 

 round the nest, but only after incubation has started. 



I have not found the owls hurtful to game, though I 

 have heard from reliable sources that they are more or 

 less destructive in some localities. Kestrels generally I 

 consider harmless. I have known occasional attacks and 

 an odd chick taken at the coops, but the gun usually 

 ended the matter in a day or two. 



I have visited scores of kestrels' nests, and only very 

 rarely found the remains of young game. 



In over forty years' experience in game-keeping in many 

 parts I have never been able to prove that the hedgehog 

 takes eggs, but I am open to conviction on this matter. 

 In a general way 1 do not consider either pheasants or 

 hares harmful to partridges, though where pheasants are 



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