WHEATEAR. 257 



The birds are supplied in profusion by the shepherds, who 

 form numerous traps for them in the turf of the downs over 

 which their flocks and cattle graze. The Wheatear trap is 

 formed by cutting an oblong piece of turf from the surface, 

 about eight inches by eleven, and six inches thick, which is 

 to be taken up in a solid mass, and laid in the contrary way 

 both as to surface and direction over the hole, thus forming 

 a hollow chamber beneath it. Besides this chamber, two 

 other openings are also cut in the turf, about six inches wide 

 and of greater length, which lead into the chamber at oppo- 

 site ends, that the bird may run in under the turf through 

 either of them. A small straight stick, sharpened at both 

 ends, not very unlike a common match, but stouter, is fixed 

 in an upright position a little on one side of the middle of 

 the square chamber ; the stick supports two open running 

 loops of twisted horse-hair placed vertically across the line of 

 passage from either entrance to the opposite outlet, and the 

 bird attempting to run through is almost certain to get his 

 head into one of these loops and be caught by the neck : 

 upon the least alarm, even the shadow of a passing cloud, the 

 birds run beneath the clod and are taken. 



However inefficient this trap may appear to be from my 

 description, the success of the shepherds is very extraor- 

 dinary. It is recorded in the Linnean Transactions that as 

 many as eighty-four dozen have been caught by a shepherd 

 in one day ; and Pennant states that the numbers snared 

 about Eastbourne amounted annually to about 1840 dozen. 

 It is not unusual, however, for a shepherd and his lad to look 

 after from five hundred to seven hundred of these traps. 

 They are opened every year about St. James's Day, the 25th 

 of July, and are all in operation by the 1st of August. The 

 birds arrive by hundreds in daily succession, but not in 

 flocks, for the next six or seven weeks, probably depending 

 on the distance northward at which they have been reared. 



VOL. I. s 



