THE BULLFINCH 187 



at the expense of the farmers in the country generally, taking no 

 account of the migratory birds that flock to this country or south- 

 ward in autumn and winter, and thus placing the lark in the London 

 and other markets in the primest condition, to the main advantage 

 of the retail sellers. 



The horsehair noose, Fig. no, by which larks are captured is 

 formed of a dark, preferably black, horsehair, and about 2 ft. long. 

 It is doubled and held between the right-hand finger and thumb 

 leaving a little loose loop of about J-in. long. From this point the 

 hair is twisted up by an overhand motion of the thumb. On reaching 

 the bottom a knot is made to prevent it unrolling, then pushing the 

 knotted end through the eye of the loop a loose noose is formed. A 

 piece of wire attached to the free end of the noose by a twisted loop 

 renders it complete. By means of the wire the noose is readily 

 affixed to a whipcord string, stretched by pegs about 4 in. from the 

 ground over a train of " hinderends " from the thrashing machine, 

 the noose being so placed that a lark passing under is caught by 

 pushing its head through the hanging noose. The line of nooses is 

 more " deadly " if set at the edge of -the train and has a com- 

 panion line on the other edge. This snaring of larks is carried on 

 in severe weather, especially when the ground is snow-covered. 

 The nooses are affixed to the line as close as they may well be, 

 so that while some larks are caught by the neck in reaching the food, 

 others get their limbs entangled in the nooses ; setting is evening, 

 and collecting, early morning work, or varied according to circum- 

 stances. 



Larks are sometimes decoyed by a cylinder of wood inlaid with 

 pieces of looking-glass fixed between two uprights, and made to 

 revolve by means of a small crank and wheel, to which a line is 

 attached, and nets set between the uprights. The fowler retires 

 to some distance, keeps the cylinder in constant motion by pulling 

 the line, and with his mouth keeping up a soft whistling noise. The 

 larks flutter over the twirler, see themselves, and dazzled, descend 

 to the ground between the nets, which are then pulled over by the 

 netsman. 



Draw-net capture of skylarks is sometimes had recourse to by 

 fenmen in autumn and early winter, the knolls on which the larks 

 roost being noted (by their droppings) in the daytime and the 

 dragging effected at night. 



BULLFINCH. This bird has not one redeeming feature save its 

 appearance in the estimation of the fruit-grower, for the devasta- 

 tion caused after Christmas on the swelling buds of fruit-bushes 

 and trees until the buds expand into leaves. The worst time is 

 February and March according to locality. It usually commences 

 with the gooseberries, red and white currants, not black, as a rule, 

 and follows on with plums, notably greengage and all the gages, 

 early Rivers, black diamond, and prune damson, indeed all plums 



