60 Practical Game Preserving. 



to purchase such eggs from doubtful sources. Then, again, 

 there is a certain amount of egg stealing by keepers 

 themselves. Not that the percentage of men who are so 

 dishonest is more than small, but it is certain that some 

 men are idle, and prefer to sell eggs rather than rear from 

 them, and the money goes into their pockets instead of to 

 the preserving fund. 



Besides this source of loss, there is that from mere de- 

 struction of eggs and young birds. The cause is generally 

 a dissension between the master and his labourers ; the 

 bone of contention may be small, but the opportunities for 

 retaliation are large, and an evil-disposed farm labourer 

 can do an immense amount of damage. By a mere tread 

 of the foot a whole nid is gone, and no one the wiser, nor 

 any means of punishing the offender. It is always good 

 policy, therefore, to keep in favour with the men about the 

 farm and others who might be equally capable of committing 

 mischief, and if a "bit of a row" should spring up about 

 nesting time, then it is better to have the worst of it, or at 

 least to conciliate the dissatisfied party, and keep him in 

 good humour. 



The chief means of protecting the birds from the several 

 modes of day poaching alluded to must consist in continual 

 and careful watching of the preserves. Nothing succeeds 

 like this, and the keeper who is always turning up at odd 

 times, and quite unexpectedly, on different portions of the 

 estate, is more feared, and at the same time produces a more 

 beneficial effect on any persons inclined towards the 

 practice of poaching, than anything we know of. It is the 

 practice of some keepers to have particular rounds, which 



