Naturalists 3 Field Clubs. 207 



this kind are probably beyond their reach or control ; others 

 might possibly, by judicious treatment, be partially or altogether 

 averted. One of the most grievous of these is the constant 

 destruction, by gamekeepers, of birds of prey and other animals, 

 under the notion (often a very mistaken one) that they prey 

 upon game birds or their eggs. That predatory birds, etc., do 

 kill off, to some extent, the weaker species, cannot, we sup- 

 pose, be disputed, but those which fall victims must generally 

 be the weak, old, or diseased individuals ; and it may very well 

 be doubted whether the natural destruction of these would not 

 be a benefit rather than a loss to the game-preserver. Disease 

 amongst grouse used not to be so much heard of before 

 the inauguration of the present system of (C vermin "-killing. 

 Much might be written upon this part of our subject, but the 

 present is not the place to enter further into it. Whether the 

 various field clubs could, by the distribution of printed appeals 

 to landowners and game-preservers, do anything to stay this 

 gradual extermination of our most interesting ferae naturae, is 

 a matter well worthy of their consideration. If an intelligent 

 interest in natural history could be communicated to the 

 gamekeepers and their masters, much would be done to 

 stay the havoc. The wholesale destruction of small birds by 

 indiscriminate bird-nesting in the neighbourhood of large vil- 

 lages and towns is " another growing evil. In some districts 

 where song-birds used not long ago , to be abundant, they are 

 now becoming lamentably scarce. It is needless, here, to 

 dwell upon the destruction thus indirectly caused to trees and 

 crops by the multiplication of insect pests, which should have 

 formed the natural food of the smaller birds. So true is it 

 that not one of nature's arrangements can be broken without 

 causing a wide-spread disorganization. The extermination of 

 rare plants and ferns is perhaps a smaller evil, but still a 

 grievous one ; moreover, it is generally brought about by 

 hands more polite than those of gamekeepers and country lads, 

 perhaps even by members of field clubs themselves. It is 

 difficult, too, to speak in very sweeping terms in condemnation 

 of it, for when a man really wants a plant for his herbarium, 

 or a fern for his greenhouse, it is hard to say he may not take 

 it. We would exhort the botanist to be content with the 

 flower, and to leave the root ; the fern-grower to pause awhile, 

 and think of Wordsworth's beautiful lines — 



" Ere from the mutilated bower I turned 

 Exulting, rich beyond the wealth of kings, 

 I felt a sense of pain when I beheld 

 The silent trees, and saw the intruding sky. 

 Then, dearest maiden, move along these shades 

 In gentleness of heart ; with gentle hand 

 Touch — for there is a spirit in the woods." 



