4 FIELD OEXITHOLOGY. 



serdc* in securing the parent of eggs that might otherwise remain unidentified. I have no 

 practical knowledge of hxrd-lime ; I l>elieve it is seldom used in this country. A method of 

 netting birds alive, which I have tried, is both easy and successfo]. A net of fine green silk, 

 some 8 or 10 feet square, is stretched i>erpendicularly across a narrow part of one of the tiny 

 brooks overgrown with briers and shrubbery, that intersect many of our meadows. Retreating 

 to a distance, the collector beats along the shrubbery making all the noise he can, urging on 

 the little bu-ds tiU they reach the almost invisible net and become entangled in trying to fly 

 tiirough. I have in this manner taken a dozen sparrows and the like at one ''drive." But 

 the gun can rarely be laid aside for this or any similar device. 



Ammunition.— The best povcder is that combining strength and cleanliness in the highest 

 compatible degree. In some brands too much of the latter is sacrificed to the former. Other 

 things being equal, a rather coarse powder is preferable, since its slower action tends to throw 

 Bhot closer. Some numbers are said to be " too quick '' for fine breech-loaders. Inexperienced 

 sportsmen and collectors almost invariably use too coarse slwt. When unnecessarily large, two 

 evils result : the number of pellets in a load is decreased, the chances of killing being corre- 

 spondingly lessened; and the plumage is unnecessarily injured, either by direct mutilation, 

 or by subsequent bleeding through large holes. As already hinted, shot cannot be too fine for 

 your routine collecting. Use ''mustard-seed," or " dust-shot," as it is variously called; it is 

 smaller than any of the sizes usually numbered. As the very finest can only be procured in 

 cities, provide yourself liberally on lea^-ing any centre of civilization for even a country village, 

 to sav nothing of remote regions. A small bird that would have been torn to pieces by a few 

 large pellets, may be riddled with mustard-seed and yet be preservable ; moreover, there is, as 

 a rale, little or no bleeding from such minute holes, which close up by the elasticity of the 

 tissues involved. It is astonishing what large birds may be brought down with the tiny pellets. 

 I have killed hawks with such shot, knocked over a wood ibis at forty yards and once shot 

 a wolf dead with No. 10, though I am bound to say the animal was within a few feet of me. 

 After dust-shot, and the nearest number or two. No. 8 or 7 will be found most useful. Water- 

 fowl, thick-skinned sea-birds, like bxius, cormorants, and pelicans, and a few of the largest land 

 birds, require heavier shot. I have had no experience with the substitution of fine gravel or 

 sand, much less water, as a projectile : besides shot I never fired anything at a bird except 

 my ramrod, on one or two occasions, when I never afterwards saw either the bird or the stick. 

 The comparatively trivial matter of caps will repay attention. Breech-loaders not discharged 

 with a pin take a particular style of short cap called a " primer; " for other guns the best 

 water-proof lined caps will prevent annoyance and disappjintment in wet weather, and may 

 save you an eye, for they only sjAit when exploded ; whereas, the flimsy cheap ones — that 

 " G D" trash, for instance, S'jld in the comer grocerj- at ten cents a hundred — usually fly 

 to pieces. Cut felt vcadu are the only suitable article. Ely's "chemically prepared " wadding 

 is the y>est. It Ls well, when using plain wads, occasionally to drive a greased one through 

 the barreL Since you may sometimes run out of wads through an unexpected c<jntiugency, 

 always keep a wad-cutter to fit your gun. You can make sen-iceable M-ads of pastelx»ard, but 

 they are inferior to felt. Cut them on the flat sawn end of a stick of firewood : the side of a 

 plank does not do very well. Use a wooden mallet, instead of a hammer or hatchet, and so 

 save your cutter. Soft paper is next best after wads ; I have never used rags, c<jtton or tow, 

 fearing these tinder-like substances might leave a spark in the barrels. Crumbled leaves or 

 grass will answer at a pinch. I liave ot^casionally, in a de6i>erate hurry, loaded and killed 

 without any wadding. 



Other Equipments. — (a.) For tlui Gun. A gun-case will come cheap in the end, 

 especially if you travel much. The usual box. divided into compartments, and well lined, 



