48 THE KEEPERS BOOK 



certainty of some damage to wild birds' nests on the 

 ground burned. To burn too large an area in any one 

 year is unnecessary for the sheep-farmer and very bad 

 for the stock of grouse. Most leases of such ground in 

 Scotland therefore regulate the amount which can be 

 burned in any one year ; and by Act of Parliament such 

 burning may not be done between i ith April and ist 

 November in any year, except in the case of high, wet 

 moorlands, which, by leave of the proprietor in writing, 

 may be burned between i ith and 2Oth April. 1 Under 

 some farming leases the landlord contracts to do all 

 necessary burning himself. In such cases the farmer is 

 entitled tohaveaproper proportion burned regularly, and 

 may recover compensation if too much ground has been 

 left under old heather. In Ireland the burning is per- 

 mitted only between izj-th June and 2nd February. In 

 both countries a penalty is incurred if the Act is broken. 

 Gun licences, etc. These being the leading condi- 

 tions as regards the persons legitimately on the lands 

 which the sportsman must observe, the conditions in 

 regard to the Government are chiefly contained in the 

 provisions as to licences. The second table at the end 

 of the chapter shows all the licences required in the 

 Three Kingdoms, and the times during which they run. 

 In the remarks following it is assumed that the reader 

 has that table before him. A licence as a male servant 

 is not required for a servant who is bond fide employed 

 in a capacity not requiring such a licence (as, e.g., a farm 



Seepage 151. 



