TRAPPING BIRDS. 12 1 



Trapping Birds. — Bird-dealers are constantly 

 receiving-orders and calls for "bird-lime." This 

 article is made from the inside bark of the holly, — 

 a tree almost unknown in this country, though very 

 plentiful in England. A substitute for this can be 

 made by boiling linseed-oil away to about one-third 

 the quantity you start with. It is a very dangerous 

 operation, and should never be done in a house, its 

 explosive qualities being fully equal to gunpowder. 

 It will make a very strong bird-lime, and hold any 

 small bird that lights upon a twig that has been 

 smeared with it. Unless, however, the trapper is 

 near at hand to remove the bird at once, he becomes 

 besmeared all over his body and wings ; and it is 

 almost impossible to remove it until the bird moults, 

 thereby, for the time being, ruining the sale of it. 

 A far better way is with a trap-cage, and a bird for 

 a caller ; and, if you can obtain a blind bird, he will 

 sit quietly, and call all day long, and many, very 

 many more birds can be taken than if the bird had 

 his sight. 



A few words on the subject of carefully wrapping 

 the paper around the cage in which a bird is taken 

 from the store. 



There are very many people who think that a bird 

 will " smother " if covered up closely. Such, how- 

 ever, is not the case. A dealer knows better than 

 any one else possibly can. And, if the purchaser 

 would only remain quiet until the package was ready 

 to deliver, he or she would always discover that the 

 last thing done was to make a few small holes in the 



