THE BULVAN. 71 



and permits the fowler, should he be mercifully inclined, 

 to spare the hens and afterwards restore them to liberty. 

 By this device, moreover, one very great inconvenience 

 attendant on traps and snares the loss of a large number 

 of the captures being carried off by birds and beasts of 

 prey is obviated. 



In parts of Sweden the Capercali are said to be shot in 

 winter to the "Bulcan," that is, a stuffed or artificial bird, 

 placed on a tree-top or in some commanding situation 

 within gun-shot of the fowler's ambush. But from what 

 I know of the habits of these birds I cannot imagine that 

 this device, which answers admirably for Black-Cock, as 

 I shall presently have occasion to show, can serve to 

 beguile many of the former birds. 



