122 
NATURE NOTES. 
The Epping Forest Act of 1878, however, effectually checked all 
such nefarious practices. Under its provisions the Conservators 
were empowered, inter alia, to exclude gipsies, hawkers, beggars, 
rogues, and vagabonds, and to prevent bird-catching, trapping, 
and the taking of eggs or nests, as well as the killing, taking or 
disturbance of deer, game, or other animals. A superintendent 
and twelve keepers (now increased to sixteen) were appointed to 
enforce the bye-laws, each keeper having his allotted beat. 
That these officials efficiently perform their duties is unquestion- 
able. The Forest now is as safe to traverse as any West-end 
thoroughfare, and in some respects more so. But considering 
the fact that it extends in broken portions from Wanstead Flats 
in the south, to beyond Epping in the north — a distance of 
nearly twelve miles — that a considerable part of it lies within 
walking distance of the poorest districts of East London, and 
the remainder is bordered by towfts and villages thickly popu- 
lated, it is hardly a matter of surprise to find, among minor 
offences, that poaching and bird-catching, to a limited degree, 
still exist. Indeed, it would be impossible entirely to suppress 
them with the present scanty staff, unless each individual keeper 
could be — like Sir Boyle Roche’s bird — in two places at once. 
Nevertheless the risks involved render the game hardly wwth 
the candle, a fact testified by the continual prosecutions at the 
local petty sessions. Practical evidence of the deterrent effect 
of the convictions obtained, and the steady improvement which 
is taking place, is afforded by the marked increase of the fauna 
during the last few years. 
The forest poacher, pure and simple, is usually a local 
artisan, labourer, or ne’er-do-well, fond of a bit of sport, who 
knows the ground. The cockney hailing from Whitechapel or 
Bethnal Green, as a rule, confines his operations to bird-catching. 
These men, mostly, are engaged at their work during the week, 
and Sunday therefore is their special field day ; the winter 
months being the favourable period of the year for their 
operations. 
Perhaps the most daring of the poaching enterprises under- 
taken at the present time in the Forest, are those now and 
again waged against the deer, both fallow and roe, which 
animals, according to the Committee’s last report, number 
about 130 and 13 respectively. A snare of strongly twisted 
wire is stretched between a couple of stout saplings, across 
openings in bushes where the deer are likely to pass, or can 
be driven towards. Fawns are sometimes taken in this way, 
but full-grown deer very rarely ; the latter are able to scent 
the human taint about the snare for weeks after it is set ; and 
the keepers usually detect the wires long before the odour has 
gone. Even should an attempt prove successful, an awkward 
problem arises as to the disposal of the animal’s body, and 
although it may be comparatively easy to hide the remains in 
the thick underwood until after dark, yet to get it away un- 
