202 THE LIFE OF THE FIELDS. 



with agriculturists. Woodcocks, again, are protected, 

 and are said to have increased, though it is open to 

 question if their increased numbers may not be due 

 to other causes. Cultivation banishes wild geese and 

 snipe, but adds to the numbers of small birds, I fancy, 

 and very probably to the number of mice. When the 

 country was three-fourths champaign open, unen- 

 closed, and uncultivated it cannot be supposed that 

 so many grain-eating birds found sustenance as now. 

 The subject is capable of much development. Enough, 

 however, has been said to show that Nature at present 

 is under artificial restraints ; but her excluded creatures 

 are for the most part ready to return if ever those 

 restraints are removed. 



