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death, the roccolo and passaia of Northern Italy, have been 

 referred to. 



In the Pyrenees wild pigeons are netted in quite a scientific 

 way. Nets some 20 metres high, and 20 metres broad at the top, 

 and 30 metres broad at the bottom, are stretched between two 

 specially selected trees, in valleys where the pigeons habitually 

 pass. The approach of a flock is signalled by outposts some 

 2 kilometres off, and the direction, right or left or centre, is 

 indicated by calls on a bugle. Boys with flags, posted on the 

 hills, guide the flocks in the required direction. As the birds 

 arrive at the nets, men lying in wait in huts throw a wooden 

 " disquin," rather resembling a palm-leaf fan, into the air, and 

 the Pigeons, mistaking these for some peril, possibly Hawks, 

 dive into the nets. Many see the net, and rise over it, and big 

 catches are made only when Rock Doves are flying with the Ring 

 Doves. Then the Rock Doves always lead, and they plunge 

 into the nets, and are followed by the Ring Doves. At Sau, 

 at the foot of the Rhune, there were caught in this way on three 

 successive autumn days of 1907 fifty-six dozen, sixty-four dozen, 

 and ninety-six dozen respectively. On the last day the head 

 man, on one occasion, signalled with his whistle not to throw 

 the disquin, as he feared the nets would be broken down or torn. 

 A 4-centimetre mesh is used, probably because a smaller mesh 

 would not entangle the pigeons. It is curious that small birds, 

 which pass in large numbers, take no notice of the flag scouts, 

 and invariably fly over or round the nets. Nevertheless it is 

 their adherence to the same route and to the same passes through 

 mountainous districts which leads to their greatest destruction. 

 Thrushes are taken in Liguria in a similar way to the Pyrenean, 

 but without the signallers and flag scouts. The birds roost in 

 the woods on the hills, and swing down the narrow ravines on their 

 way to the olive trees at daybreak, returning at sunset, still 

 flying low, and the nets, sometimes of great length, are stretched 

 across the ravines. The practice is illegal in most provinces, 

 but nevertheless poachers flnd it profitable all through the 

 winter. In some parts of Italy, where wild Pigeons are known 

 to pass on migration, there are cordons of stone-built towers 

 commanding the valleys along which the flights usually take 

 place, and the procedure is similar to that of the Pyrenees, just 

 described. A favourite sport for boys and minor sportsmen in 

 Liguria is Robin hunting. It is legahsed by a 6-lire licence — 

 usually dispensed with — and the operator carries a robin in a 

 cage surrounded by Hmed twigs. At a likely spot he sets it 

 down, and the wild Robins, numerous during October and 

 November, perch upon the cage, are limed, and duly eaten with 



