140 WILD NATURE IN STRATHEARN. 



of the wounded and disabled rabbits ; but for 

 all these faults a few in a game preserve would 

 do little harm. I know an estate where Magpies 

 are fairly numerous and where game of all kinds 

 swarm. The Jay we never see in this district 

 he apparently having been exterminated, which 

 is a pity, as he is a pretty bird, and his jarring 

 note is full of character ; but he is an egg- 

 destroyer and must go all for the sake of the 

 Pheasants. 



The preservation of one species and the de- 

 struction of all others has surely reached its 

 limit. The shooting of the Hawks has led to 

 an enormous increase of the small grain-eating 

 birds, which do considerable damage to the 

 farmers' crops. The balance of nature has been 

 broken, all for the sake of what is called game. 



The Owls cannot digest the bones and fur of 

 the animals they eat, but they have the power 

 of ejecting such in the form of pellets. One 

 who was at the trouble of examining these 

 pellets found in them many wing cases of the 



