Golden eagle, sea eagle, hen harrier, buzzard, red kite, heron, otter, badger, wildcat, polecat, fox, seals, merganser, goosander, cormorant, mountain hare are included. And, unbelievably, I once heard an apoplectic laird demand that kingfishers be culled.

The singular crime committed by these animals is that they eat and/or disturb things that are dear to the laird's heart and to his sporran. Primarily, throughout large tracts of this country that I love and call home, this includes the red grouse on their moors and the salmon and trout in their rivers, as well, I guess, as anything else that helps to keep their cash registers ringing.

Whether or not this money-driven blood-lust appals will depend upon how you value Scotland's natural heritage and wildlife. Politicians are wary of commenting. Supporting the slaughter of sad-eyed seals and saw-billed ducks is not a vote-winner. For our political masters, it is better to stay silent and safe, rather than to end up being red-faced and sorry.

This lack of political will to positively protect our wildlife is why, when wildlife crime is proven, the sentences handed out by our courts are, I think, laughably lenient. Although in recent years sentences have become more severe, they are not yet severe enough to deter the perpetrators. This is hardly heartening for those who bring these criminals to trial.

More often than not, it is the laird's employee and not the laird himself who appears in court. If the laird does make a statement on these affairs then it is invariably to insist that the crime was committed outwith his knowledge and that he, being a committed conservationist and country-lover, is horrified that birds of prey have been poisoned, trapped or shot on his estate.

Apart from wildlife law, it seems to me that not a lot has changed over the past 150 years or so when it comes to the "sportsman" in pursuit of his or her pleasure. Charles St John exemplifies this in his 1849 book A Tour in Sutherlandshire when he comments: "The wild swans are not so wild as subsequent... and I never found much difficulty in procuring a brace, or more, early in the season."

He also had great sport with an otter that he and his dog had trapped in a shallow pool: "The dog, although unable to master the otter, who was one of the largest size, managed to prevent his escape, and, at last, I contrived to end the contest by a well-aimed blow from a piece of railing which I had picked up." During his tour St John also managed to shoot two adult ospreys and four young birds, and to add three eggs to his collection whilst doing so.

The slaughter of birds of prey was as continuous as it was merciless. On a Glengarry estate between 1837 and 1840, more than 2000 birds were shot: 15 golden eagles, 27 sea eagles, 18 osprey, 63 goshawks, 275 kites, 72 hen harriers, five Montagu's harriers, 98 peregrines, 11 hobbies, six gyrfalcons, seven sparrowhawks, 78 merlin, 462 kestrels, 285 buzzards, 371 rough-legged buzzards, three honey buzzards, 109 owls and 475 ravens.

Another famous Victorian "sportsman", Osgood Mackenzie – who is credited with the dubious honour of shooting the last osprey in Ross-shire – summed it all up very neatly in his book, A Hundred Years in the Highlands: "What a big pile it would make if all the blackgame I shot between 1855 and 1900 were gathered together in one heap. Now, alas! There are none, and why, who can tell." As we say out here beyond the Split Stane, "Aye, right.

It could be argued that my implied criticism of Messrs St John and Mackenzie and the Glengarry estate is unreasonable, because these lairds were only doing what most of their peers were doing and they saw nothing wrong in their actions.

However, I wonder if we as a nation have really learnt anything from the dramatic decline in the diversity of Scotland's wildlife that has taken place and is still taking place today. (For example, the devastation of our West Highlands and Islands wild salmon populations caused by the impact of factory salmon farming; the indiscriminate persecution of mountain hares; and the recurring incidents of the illegal killing of birds of prey in Perthshire.)

Reading again the list of the creatures that our present-day lairds would like to kill, sadly, I don't think so.

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