70 Protection in Covert. 



near the place of such nest, and then keep away entirely till 

 I thought the bird had hatched, as constantly haunting a bird's 

 nest is the most foolish thing that can be. When such nests 

 are once found and dressed, let the keeper look out and trap 

 all kinds of vermin, such as the cat, stoat, fitchet, weasel, 

 hedgehog, rat, magpie, jay, hawk, crow, rook, or jackdaw. 

 These are all enemies to the birds, as well as the fox. I am 

 satisfied, as a gamekeeper, that with good vermin trapping, 

 dressing near the nests, and good bushing and pegging of land, 

 anyone will have plenty of game, and may still keep plenty of 

 foxes." 



Another equally efficacious plan, the value of which has 

 been repeatedly proved, is to fill a number of phials with the 

 so-called " oil of animal " (also known as oil of hartshorn and 

 Dippel's oil), and suspend them uncorked to sticks about 

 eighteen inches long, and stick two or three round each nest, 

 about a foot from it. The smell of the oil will keep the foxes 

 from approaching. 



In the vicinity of dwellings, there is no more dangerous 

 enemy to pheasants than the common cat. Captain Darwin, 

 in his " Game Preserver's Manual," writes as follows : — 

 " There is no species of vermin more destructive to game than 

 the domestic cat. People not aware of her predatory habits 

 would never for a moment suppose that the household favourite 

 that appears to be dozing so innocently by the fire is most 

 probably under the influence of fatigue caused by a hard 

 night's hunting in the plantations. How different also in 

 her manner is a cat when at home and when detected prowling 

 after the game. In the first of the two cases she is tame 

 and accessible to any little attentions ; in the latter she seems 

 to know she is doing wrong, and scampers off home as hard 

 as she can go. Luckily there is no animal more easily taken 

 in a trap, if common care be used in setting. Box traps, 

 however, with drop doors open at both ends, are much the 

 most efficacious, as the victims, whether cats, dogs, rats, 

 and even foxes, walk into them without susijicion, and, treading 



