294. TRAP-SHOOTING. 
of the smaller feathers under the tail, or to stick a 
pin in the gristle of the rump, with a view of mak- 
ing them fly better; as a bird that remains in the 
trap, when a ground-trap is used, after it is pulled, 
and refuses to rise, baulks the shooter, and any pain 
inflicted on them just as they are being used will 
make them wild and anxious to escape. 
There are three kinds of traps used, called the 
ground, spring, and plunge traps; the former is so 
arranged that when the string is drawn, the trap, 
which is composed of tin plates, falls over and lies 
flat on the ground; while the others, through the 
instrumentality of a spring, or by a vigorous jerk on 
the line, throw the birds into the air. The ground- 
traps are considered by many the most scientific, 
leaving the shooter in doubt as to the direction of 
the bird’s flight, and preventing his shooting on the 
calculation which can be made very accurately with 
a spring-trap—that the bird will invariably be 
thrown to a certain place, and may be killed there, 
nominally on the wing, but before he has really 
got under weigh ; but in the West the plunge-traps 
are generally preferred, as they insure the bird’s 
flying at once. 
The traps are also spoken of as “H and T,” or 
“head and tail” traps, and are usually marked with 
a large H or T; but this means merely that the 
shooter may select the trap to be pulled by the toss, 
in case the terms of the contest permit it. The 
sportsmanlike mode, however, as claimed by Eastern 
sportsmen, is to allow the trapper, provided he can 
