BIRD NOTES 73 



him, and on going to examine his traps he found 

 only the bird's legs. A number of Lapwings fre- 

 quented a marsh up the North River in November 

 1893, and advantage was taken of this by some 

 lads, who set rat-traps in order to catch them. 

 While the eager gunners could not get within range 

 of them, the boys filled their handkerchiefs with 

 game. Several of the victims, injured in one or 

 both legs, were brought to market for sale, where 

 I examined them. 



In the winter of 1901 I noticed unusual numbers 

 of Blackbirds in the market. Now, this sable fellow 

 is known to be good eating, especially in the depth 

 of winter, when, no matter how severe the weather, 

 he is always fat and in good condition. Big bunches 

 are taken from the stalls by lovers of this small 

 game long before the Moorhens and Lapwings 

 brought to market by market-gardener sportsmen, 

 who seldom aim at providing more distinguished 

 game-birds. I made inquiries, and found that in 

 certain villages old herring-nets had been placed 

 above the raspberry canes, and Blackbirds were 

 attracted beneath them by rotten apples strewn 

 about as bait. When disturbed, the frightened 

 birds, instead of flying away in a horizontal direc- 



