INTRODUCTION 



ABIRD'S-EYE view of the sport of Europe, as presented in 

 the seventeen articles collected in this volume, will afford the 

 naturalist some interesting aspects of man's share in the distribution 

 of game animals; the lawyer may note with interest the outcome 

 of various ideals of sporting legislation, and, in yet more cases, of the 

 absence of that legislation ; and for the sportsman himself there are 

 hints on the prospects of good shooting and fishing, free or rented, 

 in the different countries, the distinctive points of several important 

 Continental breeds of dogs, illustrated in almost every case from 

 photographs specially taken for the purpose, and the consideration of 

 peculiar and distinctive methods locally in vogue with gun and rod. 

 Among the greater game of Europe the northern elk and reindeer 

 are just now the objects of jealous legislation that hampers at any 



rate foreign sportsmen in Scandinavia ; the chamois 



AccliiTi3.tis6(l 

 and ibex have everywhere to be carefully preserved, and ^^^-j^^jg^ 



the red deer must also be treated with economy and 



moderation. Preservation, introduction of exotic species, and remtro- 



duction of species that have become extinct in certain areas have by 



now left their mark on almost every side of the sport in a continent 



so densely populated and so exploited, that much of the shooting 



necessarily lacks that wildness, that absence of artificial restrictions, 



which is so attractive in other continents. Perhaps the most notable 



