SPORT to deal, and if he cannot produce good birds for the guns he proves himself in- competent. Some of the best covert-shooting in Kent is to be had in those small outlying spinneys or ' shaws ' (as they are termed locally) which are to be found near the Sussex boundary as well as in other parts of the county. The plantations of ash and Spanish chestnut, grown for hop-poles before the custom of growing the hop-bines on wires became so general as it now is, also afTord excellent cover for game, and since most of these coverts are generally but a few acres in extent they are easily managed by a few beaters and a party of four or five guns. Comparatively inexpensive shooting of this description has been much sought of recent years by the man of moderate means, with the result that rentals have considerably increased in value. Not many years ago less than a shilling an acre was paid for fair rough-shoot- ing, but the figure has now risen (1907) in the more accessible places to four or five times that amount. Besides possessing good opportunities for pheasant-shooting, and some very good par- tridge ground, both red-legged (' French ') and English birds being fairly evenly dis- tributed all over the county, Kent has always proved particularly suited to the require- ments of ground game, which, as in other parts of these islands, has been sometimes found a little too plentiful from the point of view of the farmer. Hares are found in good numbers on the downs near the coast, and in Romney Marsh and other open dis- tricts, where for the most part they are only shot in moderation out of respect for the local packs of harriers and the devotees of coursing. Woodland hares are met with in moderate numbers in the large coverts, and were once almost as plentiful as rabbits are now in most parts of the county. But the Ground Game Act of 1881 has depleted the number of hares in Kent as in other places, and although of late years an increase has been noted here and there, they can never again be as plentiful as they were before the Act came into force. The splitting up of large tracts of land into small holdings, each of whose occupiers carries a gun and sets snares, has placed an effectual check upon the increase of ground game, and a hare is nowadays a rarity in such places. A method of rabbit-shooting, confined, we believe, to Kent and Sussex and one or two other counties, is worthy of particular mention. In every district where rabbits are plentiful it is the custom to hunt them with a pack of beagles, which generally be- long to farmers and others living in the district. This method of rabbit-hunting is far more effectual than the employment of beaters, before whom the rabbits refuse to run straight, doubling back past and through the line of men rather than face the open. When it is desired to hold a rabbit hunt in the Kentish woods the pack is brought together and some eight or ten guns station themselves in likely places throughout the wood. The pack having been let loose, the wood, supposing that there are plenty of rabbits, soon resounds with the merry music of the hounds, and the fun is fast and furious as the beagles drive the rabbits from cover into the rides, where the guns are stationed ready to shoot them. This form of sport is somewhat dangerous if careless guns are among the party, but with ordinary pre- cautions accidents are of rare occurrence, and it cannot be denied that this rather happy combination of hunting and shooting affords a most excellent diversion, as well as providing the most satisfactory means of keeping the rabbits in check. Several packs of rabbit-beagles are kept within the county, but the majority of them are trencher-fed, and the whole system is carried on in a rather happy-go-lucky fashion. If rabbit-beagle packs were as well organized and hunted as packs of harriers, better sport might often be enjoyed. Owing to its extensively wooded character — nearly one-twelfth part of the county consisting of woodland and plantations — the hiUs and valleys of Kent form a happy hunting ground for all sorts of birds and beasts generally classed by the gamekeeper as ' vermin.' Jays are exceedingly plentiful, especially in the oak and beech woods of the Medway valley, and magpies are by no means rare. The sparrow-hawk has been so per- secuted that it may be said to be practically extinct except in a very few places, and the kestrel, although much more common, is by no means so plentiful as it once was. Tawny and barn owls are fairly common, especially the former, and the long-eared and short- eared owls are met with frequently in the autumn and winter. No mention would have been made of these birds, except perhaps the jay and the magpie, in an article dealing with shooting, were it not that too much stress cannot be laid upon the fact that the indis- criminate destruction of birds of prey is a great mistake. Individual pairs of sparrow- hawks and kestrels will sometimes attack the young of game and deserve to be shot, and jays and magpies will occasionally steal the
