92 NATURE AND WOODCRAFT. 



rabbits will not take them for weeks. Then 

 they become familiar, the weather washes away 

 all scent, and the " well-trap " is a wholesale 

 engine of capture. The rabbits of course are 

 taken alive. These the keeper stretches across 

 his knee, dislocating the spine. English rabbits 

 are degenerating in size, and the introduction 

 of some of the continental varieties would be 

 beneficial. With the rabbits in autumn great 

 quantities of wood-pigeons are sent away, the 

 birds at this time becoming exceedingly plump 

 and fat. An almost incredible number of acorns 

 may be found in the crop of a single bird when 

 the former have fallen. 



These are a few of the Keeper's duties. He 

 himself has a russet, weather - beaten face, 

 bounded by silvery hair. He might stand for 

 a picture of a highly idealized member of his 

 class. So secluded is his cottage, that he locks 

 the door but once a year, and that on Christmas 

 Eve. He can remember when there was larger 

 game than now — when Badgers and Wild-cats 

 were not uncommon. One of his ancestors was 

 an inveterate deer-stealer, as the parish books 

 show. Then, the Red Deer roamed almost wild 

 on the fells. To-day he has but one regret — 



