134 Among the Birds in Northern Shires. 



tion of such species. Peremptory and strict orders 

 to keepers should do all that is necessary; we have 

 a lifelong experience of such men, and can therefore 

 testify to their usual obedience to instructions, whether 

 for good or evil, as regards the so-called feathered 

 vermin dwelling in their preserves. We are there- 

 fore firmly convinced that the winning over of the 

 land-owner to the side of those who seek to preserve 

 our avifauna intact yvould be of more real benefit 

 than any half-dozen acts of parliament so long as it 

 is nobody's business to enforce them. 



Of the three raptorial birds mentioned above the 

 Common Buzzard (what irony of fate for such a 

 species to possess so misleading a name!) is the only 

 one of which we can record any personal experience 

 within the woodlands of Notts, North Derbyshire, 

 and South Yorkshire, specified above. This hap- 

 pened many years ago, notwithstanding which \\e 

 retain a very vivid remembrance of all the circum- 

 stances. We had spent the day with an old poacher, 

 who not unfrequently allowed us to accompany him 

 on his illegal wanderings (and we flatter ourselves 

 on that subtle if youthful diplomacy that enabled 

 us to stand well with both gamekeepers and poachers 

 alike), fishing in prohibited waters, and were return- 

 ing homewards through a large wood, known locally 

 as "the Rawlinson". This wood stands just on the 

 border-line of Derbyshire and Yorkshire; in fact, 



