Destruction by Man 67 



greater number are captured in nets of various 

 kinds. Many of these nets are used in connec- 

 tions with what are known as roccolos, permanent 

 bird traps established in carefully chosen spots, 

 often situated on hillsides, in valleys, along 

 some natural migration route. Roccolos vary 

 in size, and some are more elaborate than others, 

 but the essentials are a clump or grove of trees 

 to invite the attention of passing birds, a few 

 little songsters to call and make the place appear 

 homelike, a net of fine threads to entangle the 

 victims of this treachery, and the fowler, who kills 

 the captured birds and sells them to be eaten. 

 The fowler or keeper of the roccolo lives close by 

 in a little building which sometimes takes the 

 form of a tower from which he can watch the 

 nets, and in which he deposits his catch in a pile 

 on the floor. 



Hidden from view by the screen of trees, 

 hang a number of small cages containing little 

 birds whose eyes have been burned out with 

 red-hot wires, because blind birds call more 

 often than those which can see. These wretched 

 little prisoners by their calls, and by their song, 

 for they sing too at times, all unknowingly lure 

 the wild birds to their death. If birds come near, 

 but hesitate on the outside trees, the fowler, by 

 means of a sort of raquet thrown through the air, 



