538 



niRD-CATCIIING. 



linif twigs are, you may take whnt number you like 

 df them. Yet the owl is a far better decoy than the 

 but, being bigger and more easily t<i In- perceived ; 

 brides lie is never seen abrond, without bring fol- 

 lowed and persecuted liy all the birds that arc near. 

 If you have not a live hat or owl, their skins will 

 serve as well, stuffed, and will last you twenty years; 

 there ure some have used an owl cut in wood and 

 naturall; painted, with great success. 



In the suburbs of London there are many per-ons 

 who, for want of better employment during the 

 months of October and March, get their livelihood 

 by the following method of bird-catching, which is 

 totally unknown in other juris of divai. Britain. 

 This method must liave been long practised, as it is 

 brought to a most systematical perfection, and is at- 

 tended with a very considerable expense. The nets 

 employed are a nio>i ingenious peace of mechanism ; 

 generally twelve yards and a half long, and two 

 yards and a half wide ; and no one, on bare inspt c- 

 tion, would imagine a bird (who is so very quick in 

 all its motions) could be caught by the nets flapping 

 over each other, till he becomes an eye witness of the 

 puller's success. 



The wild birds yfy, as the bird-catchers term it, 

 chiefly during the month of October, and part of 

 September and November ; as the flight in March is 

 much less considerable than that of Michaelmas. It 

 is to be noted, also, that the several species of birds 

 of flight do not make their appearance precisely at 

 the same time during the months of September, Oc- 

 tober, and November. The pippet, which is a small 

 species of lark, for example, begins to fly about 

 Michaelmas ; and then the woodlark, linnet, gold- 

 finch, chaffinch, greenfinch, and other birds of flight 

 succeed ; none ot which are easily to be caught in any 

 great number at any other time ; but more particu- 

 larly the pippet and the woodlark. 



These birds, during the Michaelmas and March 

 flights, are chiefly on the wing from day-break to 

 noon, though there is afterwards a small flight from 

 two o'clock till night : this, however, is so inconsider- 

 able, that the bird-catchers always take up their nets 

 at noon. It well deserves the attention of the natu- 

 ralist to inquire whence these periodical flights of 

 certain birds can arise. As the ground, however, is 

 ploughed during the months of October and March 

 for sowing the winter and lent corn, it should seem 

 that they are thus supplied with a great profusion 

 both of seeds and insects, which they cannot so easily 

 procure at any other season. 



As these birds fly always against the wind, there is 

 great contention amongst the bird-catchers who shall 

 gain that point ; if, for example, it be westerly, the 

 bird-catcher, who lays his nets most to the east, is 

 sure almost of catching every thing, provided his 

 call-birds be good. On these occasions, a gentle wind 

 to the south-west generally produces the best sport. 



The bird-catcher, who has a proper apparatus for 

 this purpose, generally carries with him five or six 

 linnets (of which more are caught than any other 

 kind of singing bird), two goldfinches, two green- 

 finches, one woodlark, one redpoll, a yellowhammer 

 titlark, and aberdavine, and perhaps a bullfinch ; 

 these are placed at small distances from the nets in 

 little cages. He has, besides, what are called flur- 

 birds, which are placed within the nets, are raisec 

 upon the flur or movable perch, and gently let 

 down at the time the wild bird approaches them 

 These generally consist of the linnet, the goldfinch, 

 and the greenfinch, which are secured to the flur by 

 what is called a brace, or movable bandage ; a con- 

 trivance that secures the birds without doing any in- 

 jury to their plumage. 



As it is known there is a superiority between one 



)ird and another, from the one being more in song 

 lian the other, the bird-catchers contrive that their 

 all-birds shall moult before the usual time. They, 

 .herefore, in June or July, put them into a close box 

 inder two or three folds of blankets, and leave their 

 dung in the cage to raise a greater heat ; in which 

 state they continue, being perhaps examined but once 

 a-week to have fresh water. As for food, the air is 

 so putrid, that they eat little during the whole Mate 

 >{ confinement, which lasts about a month. The 

 )irds frequently die under this operation ; and hence 

 .he value of a stopped bird rises greatly. When the 

 i)ird lias thus prematurely moulted, he is in son;; 

 ivhilst tile wild birds are out of song, and his note is 

 louder and more piercing than that of a wild one ; 

 )ut it is not only in his notes he receives an alteration, 

 the plumage is equally improved. The black and 

 yellow in the wings of the goldfinch, for examjile, 

 Become deeper and more vivid, together with a most 

 Beautiful gloss, which is not to be seen in the wild 

 bird. The bill, which in the latter is likewise black 

 at the end, in the stopped bird becomes white and 

 more taper, as do its legs : in short, there is as much 

 difference between a wild and a stopped bird, as then- 

 is between a horse which is kept in body clothes and 

 one at grass. 



When the bird-catcher has laid his nets, he dis- 

 poses of his call-birds at proper intervals. It must 

 be owned, their sight and hearing infinitely excel 

 those of the bird-catcher. The instant that wild 

 birds are perceived, notice is given by one to the 

 rest of the call-birds, as it is by the first hound that 

 hits on the scent to the rest of the pack ; after which 

 follows the same sort of tumultuous ecstasy and joy. 

 The call-birds, while the bird is at a distance, do not 

 sing as a bird does in a chamber ; they invite the wild 

 ones by what the bird-catchers call short jerk';, 

 which, when the birds are good, may be heard at a 

 great distance. The ascendency by this call or invi- 

 tation is so great, that the wild bird is stopped in its 

 course of flight ; and, if not already acquainted with 

 the nets, lights boldly within twenty yards of perhaps 

 three or four bird-catchers, on a spot which otherwise 

 it would not have taken the least notice of. Nay, it 

 frequently happens, that if half a flock only are 

 caught, the remaining half will immediately after- 

 wards light in the nets, and share the same fate ; and 

 should only one bird escape, that bird will suffer itself 

 to be pulled at till it is caught; so fascinating a power 

 have the call-birds. 



The nightingale is not a bird of flight, in the sense 

 the bird-catchers use this term. Like the robin, 

 wren, and many other singing birds, it only moves 

 from hedge to hedge, and does not take the periodical 

 flights in October and March. The persons who 

 catch these birds make use of small trap-nets, with- 

 out call-birds ; and are considered as inferior in dini- 

 nity to other bird-catchers, who will not rank with 

 them. The arrival of the nightingale is expected by 

 the trappers in the neighbourhood of London the first 

 week in April : at the beginning, none but cocks are 

 taken ; but in a few days the hens make their ap- 

 pearance, generally by themselves, though sometimes 

 a few males come along with them. The latter are 

 distinguished from .the females not only by their su- 

 perior size, but by a great swelling of their vent, 

 which commences on the first arrival of the hens. 

 They are caught in a net-trap, the bottom of which is 

 surrounded with an iron ring ; the net itself is rather 

 larger than a cabbage net. When the trappers hear 

 or see them, they strew some fresh mould under the 

 place, and bate the trap with a meal-worm from the 

 baker's shop. Ten or a dozen nightingales have 

 been thus caught in the course of a day. 

 The common way of taking larks, of which so many 



