424 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
the observant authors. For the chapters on Pheasants, Par- 
tridges, and Grouse by Lord Walsingham, on Blackgame by 
Lord Charles Kerr, on Wildfowl by Sir R. P. Gallwey, on Deer 
by Lord Lovat, and on Rabbits by Mr. Gerald Lascelles, contain 
almost as much Natural History as details of shooting, and 
show incontestibly how an attentive observation of the habits of 
wild animals not only may be combined with the healthful 
exercise of pursuing them, but how it conduces very materially 
to the sportsman’s success in outwitting them and bringing 
them to bag. 
The many excellent illustrations in both volumes by such good 
artists as Messrs. Stuart Wortley, Charles Whymper, G. EK. 
Lodge, and others add much to the appearance of the work, and 
to the utility of the instructions given. 
The Inland Revenue Returns for the year ending March 81st, 
1886, show that the number of persons in the United Kingdom 
who took out game-licenses during the previous twelve months 
amounted to 61,731, not including 4840 more who applied for 
occasional licenses to cover short periods, and excluding also 
ten shilling gun-licenses, which were issued to no less a number 
of persons than 173,000 odd! Assuming that only the holders 
of game-licenses buy each a copy of the ‘‘ Badminton” volumes 
on Shooting (as on principle they should do) it is somewhat 
alarming to contemplate the increased destruction of game and 
wildfowl which may be expected to follow; for an improvement 
in knowledge on the part of shooters will doubtless result in 
improved “‘ bags,” that is, if all the hints for cireumyenting and 
outwitting the game be duly committed to memory and put in 
practice. Fortunately for future prospects, the authors do not 
confine themselves to giving instructions in the art of killing, 
but very properly deal also with the question of breeding and 
rearing game. This is as it should be. In our opinion it will 
be a bad day for the country when the game laws are abolished 
and game preserving ceases to be popular. We devoutly trust 
that the supply of indigenous game, both furred and feathered, 
may always be found equal to the demand for it, and that it 
may be always procurable by the manly, health-giving, and 
pre-eminently English field-sport of Shooting. 
as 
