HINTS FOR GAMEKEEPERS. 217 



defenders may say to the contrary. He will 

 learn that hawks do not meddle with eggs, and 

 that the mother-bird, during the process of incu- 

 bation, is secure from the attacks of the smaller 

 falconidce. The popular errors of his craft and 

 the fables of local tradition will be gradually ex- 

 posed to him as he prosecutes his inquiries and 

 learns to judge for himself. He will read in the 

 book of Nature, and without having recourse to 

 the pages of Aristotle, that the cuckoo is never 

 metamorphosed into a hawk ; that the barn-owl 

 never trespasses on his territory, and is besides 

 the most efficient of mousers ; that the services 

 of even the wood-owl amply atone for his occa- 

 sional misdemeanours, and that the sparrowhawk 

 and kestrel are birds of widely different habits, 

 and deserving of very opposite treatment at his 

 hands : he will learn to distinguish the guilty 

 from the innocent ; to punish the former and to 

 spare the latter ; and instead of being a noisy and 

 blundering persecutor of many harmless and even 

 useful animals, he will become a valuable servant 

 to his employer, and a rational member of the 

 community. 



