12 RECREATIONS OF A NATURALIST 



pain to the dumb creatures which contribute to his 

 sport, while providing him at the same time with 

 wholesome food. Where the cruehy comes in, is 

 in the use of such implements as the " pole trap,'' 

 now happily prohibited by Act of Parliament, and 

 the iron "gin " employed for taking rabbits and so- 

 called " vermin," which provide no sport of any kind 

 to the user of them, and must inflict intolerable 

 pain. 



If in the interests of game preserving hawks 

 are not to be tolerated in the neighbourhood of 

 grouse moors, or partridge manors, it is easy to get 

 rid of them in a more merciful way than by means 

 of an iron trap or a charge of shot. There are 

 several ways of taking them alive and uninjured for 

 the benefit of falconers or bird fanciers, and many a 

 gamekeeper, givinghis attention to the subject, would 

 in course of time discover that a live hawk is worth 

 far more to him than a dead one. As many persons 

 profess themselves unable to distinguish one kind 

 of hawk from another, illustrations are here given 

 of the four commoner species which are most likely 

 to be met with, together with the Goshawk which 

 now seldom visits this country, and which, when 

 required by a falconer, has usually to be imported 

 from France or Germany. 



