MR. W. C. ANGUS'S EVIDENCE.

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species are strictly protected in the Royal forests both at Balmoral and Abergeldie. I think Mr. Mackenzie, of Kintail and Glen Muick, protects them also; but certainly the Marquis of Huntly, who is himself an ornithologist, and Mr. William Cunliffe Brookes, Member of Parliament, are very strict in protecting raptorial birds.

"You mean the owls and the hawks of all descriptions? Yes, and eagles; but those birds go over such a wide range of country, that unless they be generally protected the chances are that they will be destroyed somewhere.

"Has the sport of those gentlemen suffered in any way from that protection ?-Not that I am aware of; the quality of sport improved by the presence of those birds.

"You said that you had found in the stomachs of raptorial birds, moles, rats, and weasels; in the stomachs of which raptorial birds have you found weasels?—I have found them in the golden eagle, in the peregrine falcon, and the sparrow-hawk.

"You have not found them in the stomachs of smaller birds, such as the kestrel or the merlin?—I have found moles and small weasels in the stomach of the kestrel, but it is generally beetles, mice, and small birds that you find in this species.

"Do you not think that the weasel does quite as much good in his way by destroying rats and mice, as any of those raptorial birds do, or more perhaps?

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DIVINE ORGANIZATION OF NATURE.

-Yes, but he is destructive to hares and rabbits also; I think, as a rule, nature, if left to herself, would very fairly preserve the balance."

We affirm positively that it is highly unwise, indeed criminal, to interfere so ruthlessly with the Divine organization of nature. Why exterminate our best allies? Why lift our hands so unsparingly against the protectors of our moors? Since we do so we must expect evil consequences, as the laws of nature have been imposed by an infallible Power.

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Reader, take the work of preservation to heart. You have, without doubt, pondered the marvellous economy of nature, manifesting His omniscience in the minutest details within our ken. Help, then, to restrain the ignorant rebels who would pervert the infallible system of a Divine authority.

Accuse not Nature, she hath done her part;
Do thou but thine.

CHAPTER IV.

Yet grouse of other kind

The fowler often finds, of larger growth

And glossy jet, Black game, or Heathcock termed.
Nor are the Red on every healthy moor

Or rocky mountain found; full many a waste,
Washed by the southern, or the western main,
Has ne'er received them, though abundant else
In store of footed, or of feathered game.

THERE are four species of grouse in the British Isles called capercailzie (Tetrao urogallus); black game (Tetrao tetrix); red grouse (Lagopus scoticus); and ptarmigan (Lagopus albus). As the red grouse is the chief subject of this treatise, and affords better sport than all the others put together, we will only notice the other branches of the grouse family very briefly.

CAPERCAILZIE, or cock of the wood, as it is called by naturalists, is the largest of the birds of the grouse tribe, nearly equal to the turkey in size, and is also the most beautiful in plumage. It was once a