VERMIN 105 



crusade had to be waged against birds as well as against 

 beasts of prey. Sir William Jardine, in his " Naturalists' 

 Library," tells us regarding eagles : " Such was the 

 depredation committed among the flocks during the 

 season of lambing that every device was employed 

 and expense incurred by rewards for their destruction. 

 From March 1831 to March 1834, in the county of 

 Sutherland alone, 171 old birds with 53 young and 

 eggs were destroyed." 



Now that sheep-farming hardly pays and grouse 

 have become so valuable, it is necessary to cultivate the 

 latter by destroying their natural enemies, in the same 

 manner as it was necessary to destroy the wolves, etc., 

 for the sake of the sheep. Of ground vermin we have 

 the badger, otter, fox, pole-cat, stoat, weasel, hedgehog, 

 and rat. Among winged vermin we have the hawk 

 species, from the eagle down to the merlin. The game- 

 preserver has chiefly to guard against the peregrine 

 falcon, the sparrow-hawk, and the merlin ; also the 

 corvidae ravens, carrion-crows, and magpies. There 

 are others which do very considerable destruction to 

 game, but not invariably so. Amongst these may be 

 mentioned rooks, jays, jackdaws, kestrels, and owls. 



It is with a feeling of regret that I classify the 

 badger with vermin. Being brought up in the historic 

 Border land, and inheriting the hunting spirit of my 

 ancestors, I in my boyhood regarded badger, fox, and 

 otter hunting as the chief end of man. Badger hunts on 

 the banks of the lower reaches of the Tweed are still to 



