COMMON SNIPE. 55 



Greece. If anxious to have a preserve of these 

 birds in this country, and if his love of the sport 

 is sufficiently strong to induce him to make the 

 necessary sacrifices, he must possess at the same 

 time considerable territorial authority, and make 

 up his mind to run counter to the prevailing 

 spirit of the age. He must refrain from an in- 

 terference with nature, and boldly stem the torrent 

 of modern innovation ; but as the rage for agricul- 

 tural improvement has lately increased to such a 

 degree as to become a fashionable mania, and 

 the proprietor of land may feel it no less his 

 duty than his interest to increase the productive 

 capabilities of his estates, it would perhaps be 

 too much to expect that those who have the 

 pecuniary means should practise such self-denial. 

 Nevertheless, he who undertakes the drainage of 

 a marsh, or the reclamation of a bog, at the same 

 moment issues an * order to quit/ not only to 

 snipes, but to various species of grallatorial birds, 

 resident as well as migratory. 



