CHAPTER IX 



BLACKGAME 



Alone among our game-birds the black- 

 cock may with fair justice complain of his 

 treatment at the hands of man. From 

 his first moment to his last the pheasant 

 is entertained like a king; nor can the 

 grouse or the partridge cavil at the care 

 and trouble so freely given to them in 

 these days of high preserving. 



All, save only the blackcock, flourish 

 under laws framed to allow them to 

 attain their full growth and powers of 

 flight before they are called on to face 

 the music of the guns. 



It is only to the noblest of them all 

 that fair play is denied; his favourite 

 haunts are either swept away before the 

 advance of agriculture, or he is ousted 



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