If we take a survey of British sport we find
several practices that are unseemly. The hunting of animals heavy with young is one ; and many hares and others are thus hunted.
Some of the trapping habits of some game-keepers are unjusti- fiable, though, of course, the game-keeper (usually a very line type of man and naturalist) is an ardent humanitarian com- pared with the poacher or bird-catcher. In shooting there ought to be a strong etiquette against those who fire small shot at excessive ranges and, too often, boast of their excesses. But for the moment the reform of stag-hunting is the greater duty. One would like the opinion of those who enjoy days with such excellent drag-hunts as flourish at Oxford and Windsor. They are a form of hunting that grows and will grow in popularity. On the subject of stag hunting one of the best stories of the hunting of any wild animal written for many years is The Old Stag, by a young naturalist, Mr. Henry Williamson. (Putnam. 7s. 6d.) It deals with the flight to the sea, as the deer's last resource.
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