SCOTLAND.—WILD ANIMALS AND VAGRANTS:.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] Sin,—It was very interesting to many of us to read, in the- Spectator of April 7th, that, owing to the extension of deer– forests in Scotland, golden eagles and wild-cats are on the- increase, and are now safe from extirpation there. But there is also a suggestive per contra, which likewise is not uncon- nected with the extension of deer-forests,—the removal of the- cottager from the land, the divorce of Scots from Scotland_ Aboutten years ago there were ninety thousand vagrants in Scotland ; there are now about one hundred and fifty thou- sand, to a population of under five millions. Germany has- about the same number of vagrants to a population of fifty, millions. It would be matter for regret if golden eagles became extinct in Scotland. But it is matter for sadness that they are flying over the comparatively recent homes of now homeless sons of the land. This cannot be right ; and it is to be hoped that, ere many years elapse, the Scotch people will be willing, and able, to secure a better state of affairs.—
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