8 
SAND-MARTIN AND HOUSE-SPARROW. 
groiis threw a summerset in the au', and fell lifeless among 
the heather : he had received a retainer from Waring, 
although at a distance of more than eighty yards : a single 
shot, as we afterwards found, had lodged in his heart. 
Dick threw up his hat, and shouted at the top of his voice, 
" Well done Godalming ! " I shall never forget the scene: 
Dick's keen relish for such an exploit overcame his itch for 
the few shillings the bird would have brought him if it had 
fallen into his own hands. I recollect on another occasion, 
Waring bagged a 'gray hen,' and Mr. Sam Kidd another. 
But the great destruction of the black game, and its con- 
sequent scarcity, is attributable to the unceasing persecu- 
tion of the broom-squarers, most of whom have old rusty 
muskets, that once belonged to the volunteers. Armed 
with these, they follow the birds day and night, especially 
in deep snow, when it is easy to track them. 
Almost all ovu- sand-banks are honey-combed by the 
Sand-martin ; but in many places the original excavators 
have been dispossessed by the House Sparrow. This is 
particularly the case at the HoUoway-hill sand-bank, and 
at Catherine Hill, between Godalming and Guildford. It 
is the work of every spring to dig new burrows, for some 
of the old ones are sure to be tenanted by sparrows before 
the return of the rightful proprietors. This robbery seems 
to be submitted to, almost as a matter of course. For a 
few days we have a little chattering, a little scolding, a 
little hustling, but no warfare : the hard horny beak of the 
robber is too formidable a weapon for the weak and deli- 
cate martin to contend with ; so he bores a new hole by 
the side of the old one, and lives on the best possible terms 
with his neighbour — the rogue who has turned him out of 
liousc and home. With us, the sand-martins are grega- 
