28 THE GAMEKEEPER AT HOME. 



likewise the black-and-white magpie are used for the 

 same decorative purposes. Certain feathers from the jay 

 are sought by the gentlemen who visit the great house, to 

 make artificial flies for salmon-fishing. Of kingfishers she 

 preserves a considerable number for ladies' hats, and some 

 for glass cases. Once or twice she has been asked to pre- 

 pare the woodpecker, whose plumage and harsh cry entitle 

 him to the position of the parrot of our woods. Gentle- 

 men interested in natural history often commission her 

 husband to get them specimens of rare birds ; and in the 

 end he generally succeeds, though a long time may elapse 

 before they cross his path. For them she has prepared 

 some of the rare owls and hawks. She has a store of pea- 

 cocks' feathers every now and then people, especially 

 ladies, call at the cottage and purchase these things. 

 Country housewives still use the hare's ' pad ' for several 

 domestic purposes was not the hare's foot once kept in 

 the printing-offices ? 



The keeper's wife has nothing to do with rabbits, but 

 knows that their skins and fur are still bought in large 

 quantities. She has heard that geese were once kept in 

 large flocks almost entirely for their feathers, which were 

 plucked twice a year, she thinks ; but this is not practised 

 now, at least not in the south. She has had snakes' 

 skins, or more properly sloughs, for the curious. It is 

 very difficult to get one entire ; they are fragile, and so 

 twisted in the grass where the snake leaves them as to be 



