182 GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL. 



Continent have been generally enforced, as well 

 as to a comparatively scanty population, and the 

 absence of those luxuries and incentives to crime 

 which too frequently follow in the wake of re- 

 finement. 



It is admitted by all who deserve the name 

 of sportsmen, that a general distribution of the 

 pheasant throughout the length and breadth of 

 the land, would tend more to a desirable result 

 than the concentration of the species within the 

 narrow limits of an overcrowded preserve. With- 

 out any reference to the manufacturing districts, 

 where indeed the thing would appear to be almost 

 impracticable, there are still vast tracts of country 

 in the agricultural parts of England where the 

 bird is almost unknown, and yet where, by a little 

 care, and the cordial cooperation of all who have 

 an interest in the soil, it might be established in 

 moderate numbers. It may be objected that the 

 strict administration of the existing game laws 

 inefficient as they are would be attended with 

 such a degree of odium that the experiment, 

 even if successful, would not be worth the trial 

 that ' le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle ' that they 

 will probably soon be materially altered or re- 

 pealed. Granted. But as long as they remain on 

 the statute book, the judicious exercise of their 

 provisions may generally be safely adhered to, and 



