268 Poachers and Poaching. 



birds, with a red squirrel or a white stoat to 

 relieve the feathers. In one case a knot-hole is 

 imitated from which peer three young weasels ; 

 and an old one is descending the hole with a 

 dead bird in its mouth. All these are por- 

 trayed to the life by the keeper's own hand. 

 Looking at the contents of the cases, he deplores 

 his want of ornithological knowledge in earlier 

 years. Among the stuifed specimens are a Green- 

 land 'falcon, a pair of hobbies, several rare owls, 

 swallow-tailed kite, hoopoe, rose-coloured pastor, 

 and others equally rare. 



The gamekeeper's life is essentially an out- 

 door one. He is far from populous towns, and 

 needs but little assistance. Poachers rarely 

 come to his preserves in gangs, and a couple 

 of village mouchers he can easily manage. 

 His powerful frame has once been the seat of 

 great strength, though now it needs but a glance 

 to show that his eye is less keen and his hand 

 less firm. Still he is quick to detect, and with 

 his hard-hitting muzzle-loader he rarely misses. 

 Given favourable conditions he is almost in- 

 fallible with the gun, though he gives his game 

 law. He cannot now cover his extended ground 

 in a single day, and perhaps does less night 

 watching than formerly. His beat covers a 

 widely diversified district with almost every 

 species of game. The pheasants wander about 

 the woods and copses ; the partridge are among 



