THE PASSENGER PIGEON IN PENNSYLVANIA 101 



care being taken to have it resemble as nearly as pos- 

 sible a bunch of bushes. From this hut the net could 

 be sprung, and flyers thrown up. A flyer was a pigeon 

 with a string tied to its legs by which it could be pulled 

 down after having been thrown up, in such a manner 

 as to give it the appearance of hovering over a feed- 

 ing place. Another pigeon, called a stool pigeon, 

 would be set upon a sort of tilting perch near the 

 ground, in the middle of the bed. This bird was 

 blinded by having its eyes sewed up. By tilting this 

 perch this pigeon would lift its wings in a way pigeons 

 had upon alighting to feed. There might have been 

 various other ways of luring the birds to the net. At 

 the right moment the man in the hut would pull a 

 string and spring the net over the birds. So skillful 

 were some of those netters that no device other than 

 the flyers would be used to lure the birds. When a 

 passing flock would swoop near the ground to see what 

 the flyers had found, the net would be thrown at the 

 right moment for the birds to pile into it. The num- 

 ber that would be caught in this manner was dependent 

 upon the length and width of the net and the size of 

 the flock. 



Netting Pigeons and the Slaughter 



In one instance it was my good fortune to be in a 

 booth when an enormous haul of birds was made in 

 this way. The net v^as thrown just in time to scoop 

 ir a large portion of a flock skimming near the ground 

 past the hut, having been attracted there by the flyers. 



