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There is one more point worth mentioning. From a printed statement distributed to the Assembly of the contributions made in support of the League it would appear that a considerable number of States represented in the League are in arrear with the payments due from them, while one at least has so far made no contribution whatever. At the same time it is alleged that the League has on occasions found itself in financial straits to carry on its work, and has had to receive temporary support from the British and French Governments. Surely it is hardly right and fair that those States who fail to support adequately the League should enjoy the same rights and privileges as those who do? When the Canadian Delegation had, after long and laborious discussions in Committee and before the Assembly, obtained an otherwise unanimous acceptance of an important and very necessary amendment to the Covenant which, by the terms of the Covenant, must be accepted by a unanimous vote of the Assembly, one could not help reflecting that it was hardly equitable that these efforts should be rendered abortive through the opposition of one Delegation alone which had hitherto failed to recognise and fulfil its financial obligations towards the League.

These notes are written in no sense in a depreciatory spirit but more as a warning signal against dangers that undoubtedly exist and that may, unless carefully handled, become more acute as time goes on, for I am a firm believer in the usefulness and in the future of the League, so long as its affairs are conducted with wisdom and prudence. The League is still very young and lacking in experience, both of which disadvantages can be remedied only in time; and there is no need to be disheartened by the fact that, at almost its first serious test, things have not quite worked out as had been anticipated. It was merely one of those experiences which have their own special use; and we may confidently assert that, whatever some people may think, the League will emerge stronger and better prepared for the future from the ordeal through which it has passed.

HARDINGE OF PENSHURST.

(9)

Art. 2.-GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL.

Game Birds and Wild Fowl of Great Britain and Ireland. Written and Illustrated by Archibald Thorburn. Longmans, 1923.

SPORTSMEN and naturalists alike cannot but regret that the flocks of wild fowl now found in Great Britain at best compare but poorly with the teeming multitudes which wintered here within even comparatively recent years. From almost everywhere, excepting perhaps specially protected areas, comes the same story of decrease, but in justice it should be remarked that this is not so much due to the activities of fowlers as to material alterations in the character of the country the birds originally inhabited. Over the fen-country, for example, at certain seasons the wild-goose call still sounds from the heavens, and though centuries may have passed since greylegs reared their enormous nests on the lowlands of England, in all probability they would be there to-day were suitable conditions available.

The same principle applies to the wilder districts of the west, so long the stronghold of our rarer game birds. Steadily-even rapidly-the great rugged moors are losing their primitive character. Each year the grazing herds increase, in the track of the burned heather rough grass springs up, and one wild hillside after another by degrees assumes the appearance of a gigantic pasture field. Too surely the wilderness is disappearing, and with it the wild rare birds who loved its solitude. But while due allowance is made for the inevitable decline of wild life with changing conditions, it should be noted that far too many 'rarities' find their way nowadays into museums and private collections. I am told that on one or two of our southern estuaries— the best spots for wild fowl on the coast-men are openly commissioned by so-called naturalists to shoot and bring in any uncommon birds they see. Mr Kearton has ably pleaded for more effective protection, but those in authority are strangely slow to move in these matters.

Mr Thorburn's new book on this particularly interesting branch of study has the excellence of all his work, which even in ornithological circles where criticism can

be a little too keen at times is considered above praise. The author's aim, as declared in his preface, has been 'to represent these birds grouped in their natural surrounding rather than to make scientific plates of the species,' but the result is a perfection of detail to which even the photographer cannot aspire. Animal paintings are seldom quite life-like, the difficulties which confront the most skilful brush being many. Mr Thorburn, however, possesses too intimate a knowledge of his subject for his representations to be anything but realistic, and in many cases the wild birds seem actually to start into life as one turns the pages.

Of a splendid selection it is difficult to pick the best, but if one picture above others strikes the eye it is plate 23, showing eider ducks and scoters afloat. The birds are curiously alive as they ride on the rolling waves. Equally vivid are his representations of our familiar friend the red grouse, our one national bird, to whom two full plates are dedicated. One can almost hear the whirr of wings, and experience the thrill some of us know so well when, turning page 6, a pack is revealed, hurtling down wind against a background of loch and mountain scenery.

No less than seven distinct species of pheasant are described in the text, and these are mere examples of the numerous varieties which have been introduced from time to time. With so many 'aliens' abroad in the land it is little wonder that we have so nearly lost touch with the old English bird, a foreigner too, if the captious critic will have it, but claiming at least the distinction of close upon a thousand years of residence, if not in very truth a native, for there appears to be no record of his coming whatsoever. Nowadays, perhaps, we do not fully appreciate the common pheasant, who inclines more nearly to the original than any other, or realise what a sporting bird he is in the wild state-for pheasants may be found even in this country as wild as half a century of independence can make them. An adult cock sprung from a strain which has been self-supporting for several generations is no mean quarry. When shooting a year or two ago near Sprydon Forest it took a party of three a solid hour to get the better of one wary knight of the wood, and every minute of the time was

full of interest, involving some of the prettiest dog work I ever saw. Even then the royal old bird, who perhaps deserved a better fate, fell to a purely random shot, fired after him through the trees in desperation as he skimmed away in a flight which would have carried him out of bounds.

The pheasant is a canny bird indeed, and knows very well when and where he is safe. I discovered that years ago when I owned the shooting over some rough farms where pheasants were plentiful but as wild and unapproachable as old partridges. There was not much holding cover, and the birds scattered so widely to forage that it was practically impossible to get at them in the ordinary way. The only chance was to try the outlying root-fields and 'breaches' first, to drive pedestrians in, then beat through the woods about roosting time. The plan was not without its drawbacks. It often meant bad shooting in a failing light, and when the coverts were still blind dislodging roosters was no easy matter, particularly from thick oaks. Once on the ground, even if screened by brushwood, an old cock would run fast and far at the sound of a footstep, but high amongst the thick foliage where no eye could detect him, or no dog could sniff him out, he felt secure; and there he would remain, no matter how hard the tree-trunk might be hammered. I once saw stone after stone sent crashing through some green boughs in which an old stager was supposed to be lurking, and just as every one had decided he could not be there, out he clattered and away over the shadowy wood, surviving the contents of four barrels discharged in his wake by way of farewell.

Personally I am no supporter of the theory that this species cannot exist, without the protection of man, or that artificial feeding is essential. That applies no doubt in crowded preserves, but scarcely to the wild bird. He can fend for himself quite as well as others of his order, and in and about the wilder parts of Devonshire where little preserving has ever been done he would be plentiful to-day but for the rabbit-trapper. This trapper, the evil genius of sport, is seldom satisfied with his lawful game, or troubled with any sense of fair play for birds. Pheasants, owing to their habit of using regular runways, fall easy victims, and there is an all-too-simple

device for entrapping the more elusive partridge. In late summer-the trapper's carnival time-partridges, like grouse, are particularly fond of dust-baths, and every covey has some special place which is visited daily for this purpose during dry weather. It may be a little sandy barrow, a disused dugout of some sort, or, best of all, a dry bare spot at the foot of a bank. The trapper who knows only too well what to look for finds the place without difficulty, and a few gins set in the loose earth soon dispose of a covey.

Mr Thorburn, or rather Mr Ogilvie Grant from whose notes the passage is taken, remarks that the pheasant's polygamous habits are probably acquired, owing to the greater proportion of male birds destroyed. That is a difficult point to establish, but the extent to which the breeding habits of any species may be modified by circumstances is an interesting one. Curiously enough, not long ago I expressed my conviction-based upon observation-that black game, naturally polygamous, adopt monogamous habits in country where the sexes are more evenly divided. In the essay from which the extract was taken Mr Grant goes on to assert that hen pheasants cannot be called good mothers, for, unlike the majority of game birds, at the approach of danger they seek safety in flight, leaving the young to escape and hide themselves as best they can.' This rule, if rule it be, can apply only to semi-domesticated birds. Buffon, I think, states the case more correctly. The hen pheasant, he says, when at liberty, 'trains up her brood with patience, vigilance, and courage, but if kept in confinement she can scarcely ever be brought to sit with sufficient attention, and even when she does hatch them the young birds would starve if left solely to her protection.'

On two occasions I have been actually attacked by a wild hen pheasant when steering an unwitting course near her brood. The circumstances were practically identical. In each case the bird ran out from a gorsebrake, and her behaviour exactly resembled that of an angry farmyard hen in a similar position. There had been no hand-rearing for many years in the district where both incidents occurred. Another time when walking along a ferny ride between two brakes, I stumbled over a brooding bird whose brown dress,

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