150 BIRD LIFE IN ENGLAND. 



them against every other of her Majesty's lieges. I can 

 quite understand, moreover, that in the south a sylvan Eden 

 behind a well-spiked, six-foot oak fence can and does stir 

 the radical gall and germinate a hatred of those costly " wild 

 fowl " for whom the demise is kept so quiet. Yet these 

 gentlemen should know general confiscation is a poor corner- 

 stone for the erection of a temple to freedom. Were reflec- 

 tion in their line, I would refer them to the epitome of 

 foreign game laws at the end of this volume, wherein it will 

 be seen that in all countries, even those happy, blameless, 

 and Arcadian republics of France and Switzerland, game is 

 preserved with more or less rigour. 



But reason is not in their line, so perhaps the best thing 

 we can do is to educate the misguided rustic, or the thick- 

 headed voter who has listened to these too reckless ones, 

 until with Queen Titania, they exclaim 



" Ha ! what madness has possessed me ! 

 I dreamt I was enamoured of an ass ! " 



Meanwhile the sportsman's birds are being more scientifi- 

 cally reared, and more carefully tended year by year. There 

 is no perceptible thinness in the rows of pheasants or other 

 game which fill our poulterer's shops during the season, and 

 if prices remain high, it only indicates the constancy of the 

 demand. 



Some remarkable bags were made during 1885. At 

 Elveden, the Maharajah Dhuleep Singh's, on the borders 

 of Norfolk and Suffolk, 3258 brace of partridges in fifteen 

 days. On Lord Walsingham's estate of Merton, bags 

 averaging 200 brace a day were made at the beginning of 

 the season. On this same estate 2000 wild-bred pheasants 

 have been killed in a season, and this after innumerable 

 nests in the open had been despoiled of their eggs. In fact, 

 Norfolk and Suffolk, with their great game estates of Euston, 

 Merton, Biddlesworth, Buckingham, and Wretham, are the 

 best and most prolific game counties in the world. The 



