PIGEONS, DOVES, PHEASANTS, ETC. 23 



attached to the apparent act of abandonment of the plaintiff. 

 It may be unsportsmanHke for a land-owner to shoot a pigeon 

 under such circumstances, but the question is, is such a shoot- 

 ing in contravention of the law? The question may be of 

 vital importance to pigeon fanciers, but it is of still more 

 moment to owners of land, whose rights seem to depend on 

 a very slender thread if this ruling, i. e., that the owner of the 

 land is liable, is correct." *^ 



Pheasants that have been reared under hens and have never 

 become wild are the subjects of larceny.^^ And so are young 

 pheasants hatched by a hen and under her care in a coop in 

 a field at a distance from the dwelling-house.*^ So, also, par- 

 tridges about three weeks old and able to fly a little, which 

 had been hatched and reared by a common hen, placed under 

 a coop, and, after its removal, remaining with the hen as her 

 brood, though allowed to wander.*® 



"Of wild swans, nor of their young, larceny cannot be com- 

 mitted, but if they be made tame and domestic, or if they be 

 marked or pinioned, it is felony to take them or their young. 

 But it seems that if they be marked, and yet flying swans that 

 range abroad out of the precincts or royalty of the owner, it 

 is not felony to kill and take them, because they cannot be 

 known to belong to any." *^ Blackstone says that it is felony 

 to steal them, if lawfully marked, though at large in a public 

 river ; and likewise, though they are unmarked, if in a private 

 river or pond ; otherwise it is only a trespass.^" 



10. Whales, Seals — The rule laid down in the English and 

 Scotch cases is that where a whale is struck and afterwards 

 gets loose, it continues the property of the first striker who 



'' 71 L. T. 65. '" Reg. V. Head, i F. & F. 350 



But they are, nevertheless, game, and one who deals in them without 

 a license is subject to a penalty: Harnett v. Miles, 48 J. P. 455. 

 " Reg. V. Cory, 10 Cox C. C. 23. S. P. Reg. v. Garnham, i id. 451. 

 " Reg. V. Shickle, L. R. I C. C. 158. '" i Hale P. C. 511. 

 "* 4 BI, Com. 235. See also §§ 4, S, supra, as to swans. 



