Local newspapers are calling more and more attention to the
frequency of poaching, and some of them emphasize the small- ness of the penalties for those caught red-handed. The sporting magistrate perhaps has a certain fellow-feeling for the poorer sportsman, if it happens that there is any element of sport in his offence. However this may be, there are some forms of the poacher's activity with which no one can sympathize. They are usually most active on Sunday morning, and some leave their snares from Sunday till the following Saturday. A good many poach at night, using a -410 shot gun, sometimes with a hinge at the stock for the purpose of shooting roosting birds. To quote a third sin, they are apt to commit arson, whether accidentally or on purpose. The Hastings fire seems to have been due to poachers ; and it is known in other localities that hay-ricks have been burnt by them. One fire, that has now been burning for nearly a year on a rubbish dump, was lit by some urban trespassers, who were thought to have combined the professions of poaching and picking up
unconsidered •trifles. * * * *
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