CHAPTER VIII. 



now CAGE BIRDS ARE CAUGHT : A DAY ON BRIGHTON 



DOWNS. 



BEING desirous of learning something of the 

 metliods employed in catching such of our 

 feathered friends as give pleasure by their pretty 

 songs or interesting habits to people who cannot 

 jjossibly study them in their native wilds, my 

 brother and I journeyed to Brighton, on the 7th 

 November, 1896, in order to interview the bird- 

 catchers and photograph tliem with their engines 

 actually at work on the Downs. 



The weather had been fine and settled all tlie 

 week, and the sport in full progress ; but no sooner 

 had we reached our destination than it began to rain 

 and blow in the most disheartening fashion, and we 

 knew that unless a considerable change for the better 

 took place, we were likely to have to return empty- 

 lianded, for bird-catchers will not risk injury to their 

 decoy bir^is Ijy taking them out in dirty wcatlier. 



The following day dawned cold and liazy, witli 

 ii very strong wind blowing from tlie north-east. We 

 had a walk over the Downs, l)iit did not see a single 

 l)ir(l-maii out. In tlie course oi' oui- long ii'ump, 

 however, we observed a Goldiincli or two, several 

 flocks of Linnets and Greenfinches, Starlings and 

 f^arks innunuM-able, l)esides thi'cc se])arate flights of 

 I[ous(! jMai'tins. The lii'sl two companies, consisting 

 of three and six birds respcctivcl\', wei-c fiyinu' due 



