LARK-NETTING IN THE WINTER. 131 



suffered to fall and the prisoner secured. Some 

 attention to the direction of the wind is neces- 

 sary ; if possible, it should pass obliquely ; if it 

 were to blow directly into the net, it would cause 

 it to bag too much, and resist their progress ; and 

 if from behind, it would carry the middle portion 

 too much forward, and moreover alarm the birds 

 prematurely. 



Dark nights are necessary for this work ; stub- 

 ble and clover fields and meadows furnish the best 

 supply of larks, but the respective value of each 

 of these localities depends on the previous state 

 of the weather, and in this the old wary netter 

 has a great advantage over the beginner, who fre- 

 quently toils through many a cold night in vain, 

 until dear-bought experience at last places him 

 among the knowing ones of his calling. If the 

 previous day has been wet, larks are not found in 

 wheat stubbles, but in thick rank meadows, and 

 along the higher brows of grassy fields, where 

 they lie very close until touched by the lower 

 edge of the net. In fine weather the reverse of 

 this occurs; meadows would then furnish but 

 little sport, for the larks collect in the stubbles, 

 and are taken in great numbers, although they 

 do not lie so close as in the former situations. 

 Strange to say, during the prevalence of storm 

 and rain the exposed side of a hill is usually 



