JVoodland Birds 



above the back, when at length it has risen above 

 the trees a sure indication to the gamekeeper 

 that his presence is needed in the wood. 



Some keepers are so severe on the feathered 

 denizens of the woods under their care that 

 the bird lover finds no pleasure in a walk 

 through his over-preserved plantations. Here 

 and there he may see a Woodpigeon, for the 

 keeper knows the value of such birds in warning 

 him of intruders, but bird life is chiefly con- 

 spicuous by its absence. All song is hushed, 

 and only the loud crow of the Pheasant, accom- 

 panied by a rapid whirring of wings, strikes the 

 ear. In such woods the pole trap is but too 

 common a sight. Knowing the habit of birds 

 of prey of perching on an eminence, the keeper 

 sets up a stake in an open space in the wood, and 

 places a gin on the top. Only the other day 1 

 found such an one, in which a fine specimen of a 

 Tawny Owl was hanging head downwards, its 

 lacerated legs bearing witness to its painful and 

 lingering death, while, suspended from a branch 

 near by, were two Sparrow Hawks and a Jay. If 

 British wild birds must be sacrificed in the in- 

 terests of " sport," it is surely not too much to 

 ask that the destruction should be carried out in 

 a reasonably humane manner. 



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