HORSES AKD HOUNDS. 171 



in wliicli these boxes were placed ; and, by allowing the rabbits 

 to pass through them for a few days, until accustomed to the 

 run, they were, when set, a sure -and safe trap. By visiting 

 them several times in the evening, many rabbits were caught, 

 and the traps were then thrown open for the rest of the night. 

 When these wooden traps are set in the runs of weasels or 

 stoats, a bait is seldom necessary, as these vermin are naturally 

 very inquisitive, and pry into every hole they find open. With 

 the figure of 4 trap a bird recently killed is the best bait, placed 

 on the horizontal stick which combines the trap ; the falling 

 stone or tile may be sufficiently heavy to kill instantly any of 

 these smaller variety of vermin, or even a cat. The common 

 house cat, when once accustomed to the woods, is never after- 

 wards of any service as a mouser, and makes great havoc amongst 

 all kinds of game ; the sooner she is disposed of then the better. 

 Crows and magpies may be easily cauoht, by placing a piece of 

 carrion — part of a dead sheep or rabbit — in a pollard tree or on 

 the ground, with strong horsehair nooses upon and around the 

 bait, secured by a strong piece of twine, either tied to the limbs 

 of the tree or pegged down to the ground. In the breeding 

 season, also, their nests are easily found, and the old birds may 

 be shot, by waiting their return to them in the evening. Kites 

 and hawks may be destroyed in the same manner, without 

 torturing them in steel traps, or destroying them by poison, 

 for which there is no excuse. 



Although entertaining a strong prejudice, in which I am not 

 singular, against the battue system, yet I am by no means an 

 enemy to the moderate preservation of game, for the use of the 

 landed proprietor and his friends. Neither is the preservation 

 of game, on liberal principles, any nuisance. As all landed 

 proprietors are not fox-hunters, they require relaxation and 

 amusement as well as their neighbours, and, in the winter 

 season, hunting and shooting are the chief inducements to 

 remain at their country seats. A country gentleman, with a 

 generous heart, may have as much game as he requires for 

 himself and neighbours at a very trifling expense, and without 

 supplying the county gaols with many inmates. I never had 

 more than one keeper for many years, and there was always as 

 much game as I required for the house, and my neighbours as 

 well; and, although the parish was large in which I lived, 

 there were very few poachers in it. In the course of twenty 

 years I do not think I ever caused more than two or tliree 

 offenders against the game laws to be corrected; and those 

 were incorrigible vagabonds — mauvais snjets in every respect. 

 The tenants on the property were never refused hares or rabbits 



