128 FACT AGAINST FICTION. 



again, to ascertain wlietlier the sliglit motion pre- 

 viously detected originated with an enemj^ or 

 not, and the keej^er, knowing the restless nature 

 of liis foe, having kept the gun to his shoulder, 

 shot the head off before its owner could again 

 take it out of sight. No more birds were there- 

 after lost. 



When keepers return an estimate to their em- 

 ployers as to ' ' how many pheasants they have 

 at the coops," they give in the number thcu have 

 IDut out J not the number that are still then there, 

 or that may be there at subsequent periods, — 

 that number often much lessened by neglect, by 

 disease, by accidents, or by the ravages of winged 

 or four-footed vermin. A keeper can only know 

 the truth of how many birds he has, by shutting 

 up the face of the coop every evening, and count- 

 ing the young at each coop as he lets them out 

 every morning. Then, as the birds get larger, 

 if some of them stray to other coops, he will be 

 able to ascertain, by the numbers let out at each 

 coop, his exact position. To some men this is 

 too much trouble ; and because it is more trouble 

 than they like, they tell their employer that it is 

 l)est not to shut the young birds in at night. 



