THE LAW RELATING TO DEER AND GROUND GAME 
compensation for damage to his crops caused by deer, pheasants, par- 
tridges, grouse and blackgame. There is no statutory right to compen- 
sation for damage caused by “ ground game,” presumably because 
the tenant has the means of preventing such damage in his own hands 
by the Ground Game Act, but he would have a right of action at common 
law in cases where the land is overstocked with hares and rabbits by a 
shooting tenant.* 
The terms of section 10 are as follow: 
(1) Where a tenant of a holding has sustained damage to his crops 
from game, the right to kill and take which is vested neither in him nor 
in anyone claiming under him other than the landlord, and which the 
tenant has not permission in writing to kill, he shall be entitled to com- 
pensation from his landlord for such damage if it exceeds in amount the 
sum of one shilling per acre . . . and any agreement to the contrary shall 
be void. 
(2) The amount of compensation payable ... in default of agreement 
shall be determined by arbitration, but no compensation shall be recover- 
able unless two notices, in writing, have been given to the landlord to the 
effect, first, that damage has been caused; and, secondly, that compensation 
is claimed. In all cases compensation is to be claimed from the landlord 
and not from the shooting tenant, but the landlord can recover the amount 
from the shooting tenant afterwards.f 
In Scotland compensation for damage by game and deer, in the case 
of an agricultural holding, is regulated by section 9 of the Agricultural 
Holdings (Scotland) Act, 1908, 8 Edw. VII, c. 64. For the purpose of this 
section the expression ‘‘ game ” means deer, pheasants, partridges, 
grouse, and blackgame. 
HARES. — ^The term “ ground game,” that is, hares and rabbits, was 
introduced by the Act passed in 1880 for the better protection of occupiers 
of land against injury to crops by these animals. But though it might seem 
reasonable to deal with these two animals under this one heading, it must 
be remembered that hares are ” game ” under all the statutes in England, 
Scotland and Ireland, while rabbits are not, although the latter are in- 
cluded in the Night Poaching Acts of 1828 and 1844, and in the Poaching 
Prevention Act, 1862, all of which apply to the whole of the United King- 
dom. Before dealing, therefore, with the two animals collectively under 
* Oke’s Game Laws, fifth edition by Mead, 1912, p. 94. 
tMead, in Oke’s Game Laws, 1907, pp. 94-95. 
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