tures as are uſually found at liberty, which are therefore ſuppoſed to be more emphatically ferae naturae, though it may happen that the latter ſhall be ſometimes tamed and confined by the art and induſtry of man. Such as are deer in a park, hares or rabbets in an encloſed warren, doves in a dovehouſe, pheaſants or partridges in a mew, hawks that are fed and commanded by their owner, and fiſh in a private pond or in trunks. Theſe are no longer the property of a man, than while they continue in his keeping or actual poſſeſſion: but, if at any time they regain their natural liberty, his property inſtantly ceaſes; unleſs they have animum revertendi, which is only to be known by their uſual cuſtom of returning[1]. A maxim which is borrowed from the civil law[2]; "revertendi animum videntur deſinere habere tunc, cum revertendi conſuetudinem deſeruerint." The law therefore extends this poſſeſſion farther than the mere manual occupation; for my tame hawk that is purſuing his quarry in my preſence, though he is at liberty to go where he pleaſes, is nevertheleſs my property; for he hath animum revertendi. So are my pigeons, that are flying at a diſtance from their home (eſpecially of the carrier kind) and likewiſe the deer that is chaſed out of my park or foreſt, and is inſtantly purſued by the keeper or foreſter: all which remain ſtill in my poſſeſſion, and I ſtill preſerve my qualified property in them. But if they ſtray without my knowlege, and do not return in the uſual manner, it is then lawful for any ſtranger to take them[3]. But if a deer, or any wild animal reclaimed, hath a collar or other mark put upon him, and goes and returns at his pleaſure; or if a wild ſwan is taken, and marked and turned looſe in the river, the owner's property in him ſtill continues, and it is not lawful for any one elſe to take him[4]: but otherwiſe, if the deer has been long abſent without returning, or the ſwan leaves the neighbourhood. Bees alſo are ferae naturae; but, when hived and reclaimed, a man may have a qualified property in them, by the law of nature, as well as by the civil law[5]. And to the ſame purpoſe, not to ſay in the ſame
