BIRDS, TRAPS FOR. 



BIRDS, TRAPS FOR. 



Odd bits of bright tin may be utilised in 

 this way by cutting them in the form shown 

 at A, which represents the front view or 

 elevation of a piece of tin thus treated, and 

 then putting two together as shown at B, 

 which affords an end view of the contri- 



vance. Pieces of tin put together in this 

 way keep up a rattling noise, as well as 

 emit flashes of light as the sun's rays fall on 

 them, and thus constitute cheap but very 

 effective bird scarers. 



Birds, Basket Traps for. 



Bird traps may be procured at the 

 basket makers, circular in form and the 

 top funnel shaped, having a small wicker 

 door on one side. Corn is strewn at the 

 bottom of the basket as bait. The bird 



forces its way into the trap to get at the 

 corn, and cannot get out again through the 

 ends of the opposing osiers. When caught 

 it must be taken out and destroyed by the 

 catcher. 



Birds, Simple Traps for. 



The accompanying diagram shows the 



principle of setting traps which will 

 kill birds. A peg, slightly rounded at 

 the top, is driven into the ground as 

 at A, to afford a solid support for the 

 contrivance immediately above it, which 

 consists of a short piece, B, a forced 

 twig, C, and a longer piece of wood or 

 stick, D. Of these, B is placed on A, and 

 ) immediately above B, the forked twig, c, 

 >eing interposed between B and D, as drawn. 

 A heavy stone, slate, or brick is then 

 placed on D, the whole being carefully 

 balanced. The corn, or whatever may be 

 used as bait, is scattered under the stone 

 between B and the edge of the stone touch- 

 ing the ground. In approaching the bait 

 the bird will at first light on the forked 

 twig, c, when its weight will destroy -the 



balance, displace the sticks, and bring 

 down the stone. When it is desired to 

 entrap the bird alive, four bricks are used 

 one on each side, one at the end, and 

 the fourth in the position shown for the 

 stone F. The means used to prop up the 

 fourth brick are precisely the same, but 

 when the sticks are displaced and the 

 brick falls, its edge is caught by that of 

 the brick at the end, and the bird is secured 

 in the cavity formed between the four 

 bricks. A sieve propped on a stick, with 

 a string tied to it, affords another kind of 

 drop trap in which birds may be taken, 

 but this necessitates long watching on the 

 part of the person who has to let the trap 

 down by pulling the string, and therefore 

 I need not be described further. 



