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Mr. E. W. Harper,



removing bird-lime from the feathers of captured birds, all that

is necessary is to rub them with dry ashes. Bird-lime is used in

India in two different senses, which I shall term “passive” and

“ active.” In the former, limed twigs are placed in convenient

positions for the capture of the bird — either by its feet or by its

wings — when it comes in contact with them. In the latter sense,

the bird-catcher literally hunts his prey, “stabbing” it with a

long rod, which is limed at its extremity. The “passive” sense

I will deal with first : it is the only one adopted in England.

There, the common method is to place limed twigs just above a

cage containing a call-bird, the catcher waiting near in a con¬

cealed position, ready to remove the bird the moment it is stuck

to the twigs. In India, however, many other ways exist of using

bird-lime in a “passive” sense. Fruit-suckers ( Chloropsis ) are

caught by tying one of these birds to a horizontal rod, the end

of which has been coated with bird-lime, the rod being then

placed near a tree frequented by these birds. Xo sooner does

the wild bird see one of its own kind sitting on the rod than its

pugilistic qualities cause it to descend, for the purpose of

engaging in a combat — which, of course, never comes off. In

order to make the tame bird sit still upon its perch, it is tem¬

porarily blind-folded, by having its eyelids sewn together.


Perhaps the most efficacious method of all contrivances

for using bird-lime in a “passive” sense is the one in which

two thiu limed twigs are crossed in the middle at right angles,

the ends being then stuck into the ground. This forms a

structure resembling the double hoops used at croquet, but only

about a fourth the height. From the centre of the hoops a live

grasshopper is suspended by a fine thread. All insectivorous

birds which dart down upon their prey from a prominent position

(generally returning to their perch to devour it) may be readily

caught in this way. Drongos, Rollers, Sliamahs, Shrikes, etc.,

are among the usual captives of this device, the outstretched

wings of the bird becoming glued to the limed hoops.


Kites, Crows, and sometimes Hawks, are caught by tying

a piece of meat or a small bird in the middle of a stick, which

has been previously coated with bird-lime, and placed upon the

ground. A Kite, or a Hawk, grasping the bait in its talons.



