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perches should ])e made of soft wood : one in the centre 

 resting on the middle bar, and one on each side close to 

 the food and water glasses on the bottom rail. Some 

 people cover their perches with chamois leather, others 

 with cloth and India rubber tubing ; but I don't think it 

 necessary, if they are kept scrupulously clean. Sand is 

 not a suitable dressing for the bottom of your soft-bill's 

 cage, as, unlike seed-eaters, he requires little, if any, to 

 help him to grind or digest his food, and the sharp 

 particles of grit are liable to cut his delicate feet ; there- 

 fore I advise the use of cocoa-nut fibre refuse, slightly 

 damp. Some use sawdust and rice husks for the cage 

 drawers, but it is not to be recommended, owing to the 

 danger of its getting swallowed with the food, and fatal 

 consequences following. 



TRAPS AND TRAPPING. Of all birds perhaps 

 none are easier to catch than the insectivorous kinds, 

 and they readih' fall victims to the tempting bait of a 

 nice fat mealworm. During the hard frosts of winter 

 many kinds can be obtained with such simple devices as 

 the well known brick trap and garden sieve ; in fact I 

 have seen flocks of Skylarks and Redwings so thoroughh' 

 exhausted during severe weather, that I have been able 

 to capture them b}' running them down and putting my 

 cap over them. At such times I have seen hundreds of 

 I^arks, Bramblefinches, and Snowbuntings caught with 

 twisted horsehair noozes, tied to a long string pegged to 

 the ground at each end, with oats and chaff used as a 

 bait. 



To ensnare any one of the numerous summer 

 migrants, that visit our shores about April and May, 

 when food is to be had in plenty, is a rather more 

 difficult task, but, strange as it may seem, it is ver}- easy 

 to secure quite as many as we require. Nightingales 

 especialh' are most unwar}-, and will actualh' watch 3'ou 

 set the trap, and take the bait immediately 3'our back 

 is turned. Such unwieldy apparatus as clap nets, used 

 for the taking of wild birds wholesale, may well be left 

 to the professional bird-catcher. For the amateur fond 

 of sport, and with the desire to catch a few birds for his 



