THE DARTFORD WARBLER 261 



by some poaching rascal, but unhappily shot in 

 mistake for something else by an ignorant young 

 under-keeper, who, in fear of a wigging, took it 

 secretly to a friend at a distance and gave it to 

 him to get rid of. The story of the unfortunate 

 killing of the rare bird varies in each case when 

 it has to be told to one whose standard of 

 morality is very high even with regard to his 

 hobby. My experience is, that where there are 

 collectors who are men of means, there you find 

 their parasites, who know how to treat them, and 

 who feed on their enthusiasms. 



In my rambles about the country during the 

 last few years, I have neglected no opportunity 

 of conversing with land-owners and large tenants 

 on this subject, and, with the exception of one 

 man, all those I have spoken to agreed that 

 owners generally — not nine in every ten, as I 

 had put it, but ninety-nine in every hundred — 

 would gladly welcome a law to put down the 

 collecting of British birds by private persons. 

 The one man who disagreed is the owner of 

 an immense estate, and he was the bitterest of 

 all in denouncing the scoundrels who came to 

 steal his birds ; and if a law could be made to 



