NED POWELL 99 



plentiful. Most Harrow boys of thirty years ago 

 will remember Ned Powell as a very decent, 

 civil-spoken, and honest individual. He taught 

 us not only how to catch birds, but also how to 

 train them and manufacture all the appliances 

 necessary for their capture, and these latter were 

 multifarious. In addition to the nets, there were 

 cage-birds, or, as they are termed, 'call-birds/ 

 and braced birds. These last-named were birds 

 which were, so to speak, harnessed with a 

 strand of wool fastened round their bodies in 

 front and behind the wings, and attached to 

 a small swivel under the breast, by means of 

 which they were fastened to the end of a short 

 stick inserted in a peg of wood notched out to 

 admit of the stick, when pulled by a string, play- 

 ing up and down at will. When it was desired to 

 attract a * charm ' of goldfinches or other birds, 

 the string was pulled, and the braced bird was 

 thus thrown up into the air, and on the flock 

 settling the nets were pulled over, the captured 

 birds transferred to a cage, in the top of which 

 was a hole large enough to admit of a hand 

 being inserted, the leg of a stocking being nailed 

 round the hole and tied in a knot to prevent the 

 birds escaping. In this manner a great many 

 birds were caught in favourable weather, but 

 it was cold work watching and waiting for 

 their arrival, especially since these performances 

 usually took place at an early hour in the winter 

 mornings. 



