T 10 ] 
fact is repeatedly forthcoming every springtime. But still I should he 
sorry, indeed, to see even these malefactors entirely “ improved ” off the 
face of the country. On the other hand, the beautiful kestrel, as a 
species, is very harmless. Now and again it is possible to detect a 
wrong-doer, when the young gamechicks are about; but, I would ask, 
are there not black sheep in every flock ? As for owls, being crepuscular 
in their habits, the amount of good they do is done, so to say, by stealth, 
and is therefore but inadequately appreciated, if admitted at all, by the 
general run of woodland custodians. As a matter of fact, though, it 
is supremely idle to talk about “ appreciation ” where owls are concerned. 
They are included, on no justifiable grounds whatsoever, in the category 
of birds inimical to game interests, and will continue, I fear, to be so 
included, despite urgent protestations on the part of others better in¬ 
formed, until those directly concerned are brought to realise how useful 
such birds are, and how greatly to be deprecated is the crueltv involved 
in their sacrifice. It has been my lot to see gibbeted at different times 
on gamekeepers’ poles not only honey buzzards, common buzzards, and 
hobbies, but nightjars, green woodpeckers, and cuckoos ! Of outrages 
of this kind, however, I have not the patience to speak. I am content 
to look forward, fully persuaded that owing to many co-operating causes 
we are at length emerging from an era of superstition and ignorance— 
never again to be revived. 
Professional collectors, bird-catchers, and those to whom the mone¬ 
tary value attaching to birds and their eggs is a consideration, are, I 
fear, beyond the pale of any influence. Personal interests are apt to 
outweigh those by which the public good may be regulated. Agricul¬ 
turists, as I have already hinted, are not exactly enamoured of rooks 
in the spring of the year, while bullfinches about the same period, and 
one or two members of the tit family in the autumn, are not viewed 
altogether with equanimity b- gardeners. Still, it is certain that 
neither class go to any extreme in essaying to protect their individual 
interests, and, when all is said and done, it is only reasonable that a 
moderate check should be kept on those species which are admittedly 
baneful—though doing good in other ways and at other times—to hus¬ 
bandry, orchards, and gardens. 
The fact cannot be seriously disputed that every bird has a sphere of 
utility assigned to it in the scheme of the universe, though in some cases 
