384 AN ENGLISH GAMEKEEPER. 



servants to the hall table when the bell rings 

 for dinner. They jump over each other's backs, 

 and run, and fly, like dove house pigeons in a 

 farmyard. In ten minutes it is all over, and 

 the food and birds are all gone, just the same 

 as in the servants' hall at a gentlemen's house, 

 the moment the cloth is removed, all the 

 company disperse. 



There is very little to be said in favour of 

 this method of feeding, and a great deal to be 

 said against it. Keepers say: "I feed my 

 birds on certain spots, and at stated hours, so 

 that I can count the birds and make pretty 

 sure how many I have got in that wood." 

 Now, supposing he misses a dozen one day, 

 and more every day (which often happens 

 where this method of feeding is adopted), what 

 good is it to have an accurate knowledge of 

 the number of birds on your various beats ? 

 The keeper knows that his birds are steadily 

 decreasing in numbers, and yet he is pig-headed 

 enough to continue to feed in his old-fashioned 

 way. I know many instances where a keeper 

 has started with a fair head of game, and, 



