INDO-CHINA 53 
clearings in the undergrowth where there is room for the cocks 
to display. Sometimes barriers of brushwood are constructed, 
forming a long fence in which convenient gaps are left at intervals 
to allow the pheasants to pass through, and here ordinary snares 
are set and not the spring type. 
To set the former, a bamboo sapling is pressed into the earth 
on one side of the selected spot, and is then bent over sufficiently 
for the snare to be spread flat across the path; it is set and operated 
in much the same way as the ones described in an earlier chapter 
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ANNAMITE CARRYING RHEINART’S PHEASANT 
for catching antelopes. A cross-stick acts as the trigger, this being 
laid across a slight hollow in the path and covered with small 
sticks and leaves. The slightest pressure on this, made by the pass- 
ing pheasant, releases the trigger and the sapling springs up, pull- 
ing the snare taut and catching the bird firmly by the leg or legs. 
Powerful birds like Rheinart’s would quickly injure them- 
selves to such an extent as to be useless if put in an ordinary crate 
or basket immediately after capture, for like all ground-dwelling 
birds they rise with great force when frightened; so special pre- 
cautions have to be made to prevent them from banging their 
heads against the top and splitting the skin where a bare patch 
would always remain. The Annamites have a clever way of cop- 
ing with this. They weave a sort of pliable basket, the same size 
