THE CARRION CROW. 
reckon up how many times the keeper has disturbed 
the game by going in search of this bird, and thus 
exposed the nests of partridges and pheasants to 
certain destruction by vermin of all kinds ; and then, 
if we take into the account the many heads of game 
j which the keeper had killed in his steel traps and 
I rabbit-snares, we should conclude, I think, that, in 
■ the long run, the game actually suffers more from 
the keeper, in his attempts to destroy the crow, than 
it really does from the crow itself, while catering 
j for its young. Indeed, I have made out the account 
j myself ; and, finding the balance to be against the 
j keeper, I have renewed the order which I gave to his 
predecessor, never, upon any score, to persecute 
what is commonly called flying vermin. Thus the 
partridges and pheasants here, during the time of 
incubation, are abandoned to their own discretion : 
and I judge, from what I have seen, that old Dame 
Nature, without any interference on my part, will 
kindly continue to point out to these birds proper 
1 places where to lay their eggs and rear their young ; 
[ and, moreover, I am confident she will teach them, 
I by her own admirable and secret process, how to 
^ elude the prying scrutiny of the carrion crow. 
Should, however, the country squire, whose eye is 
seldom quite closed to the advantages derived from 
a well-stored autumnal larder ; should he, I say, not 
have sufficient faith in the dame's protecting care, 
it will be some consolation to him to be informed 
that, when birds of the game species lose their first 
eggs, they seldom fail to have a second hatch, which 
I will be sure to find ample security from its enemies, 
