XX UfXEODTJCTION. 



cartman who drives a galled horse, when perhaps his dinner de- 

 pends upon the act ; or the youth for worrying a cat, or indulg- 

 ing in a Duck hunt, on a charge of cruelty ? 



Hence the game-preserver ought to be careful how he destroys 

 the balance of life; for though his efforts may not have had 

 much influence in the production of game, they have had a very 

 sensible effect in other directions. Certain prolific species, both 

 of birds and mammals, have of late years vastly increased. The 

 Eing Dove or Wood Pigeon has become, in some parts of Scot- 

 land, a great nuisance, on account of its vast numerical increase. 

 And I am informed by Mi'. Langlands, of Old Bewick, that 

 within the last few years this bird has greatly increased in 

 jSTorthumberland, and that it has there become injurious to the 

 farmer. That gentleman attributes the increase of this species 

 to the destruction of "birds of prey, and especially of the Mag- 

 pies." Starlings likewise have increased enormously within 

 the last twenty or thirty years in the neighbourhood of IS'ew- 

 castle, and indeed over the whole district ; and the smaller Fas- 

 seres seem also on the increase. But perhaps the greatest evil 

 arising fi'om the interference with the balance of life by the game- 

 preserver is the rapid growth of the numbers of the rat — a use- 

 ful animal while restrained within its natural limits. The field 

 mouse has likewise become detrimental. The Weasel, Stoat, 

 Buzzard, Kestrel, and Owls, all natural checks to the over devel- 

 opment of these most prolific mammals, having been destroyed 

 by man, the rat and the mouse range undisturbed. The rat has 

 taken possession of the hedge banks, and the sides of pools and 

 rivulets, and has become a complete nuisance to the farmstead, 

 where, on account of its ravages, it is difficult to rear fowls, par- 

 ticularly Ducks. The gardens suffer severely from mice, and so 

 destructive are they in some localities, that it is almost impossible 

 to grow crocuses or other bulbous plants. The rabbit, too, fi-om 

 the same cause, has in many districts over-run the country, and 

 become a serious evil. 



There has been no discrimination used in the slaughter of the 

 so-called "vennin:" not only harmless, but even useful, birds 

 have been destroyed. The Xestrol, which preys almost entirely 



