GAME NOTES AND FOLK-LORE. 195 



danger. One such pole and trap was set in 

 a fir-plantation, the trees were young, and 

 the pole was just tall enough to reach above 

 the highest boughs, and so to attract the 

 attention of the birds. Upon that single 

 pole no less than two hundred owls were 

 taken, chiefly brown owls, but many white 

 owls, and some few of the horned or loner- 

 eared species. 



To draw out an owl from his nest in 

 a hollow tree is not a pleasant task, even 

 with a glove on ; he will often manage to 

 get his sharp claws into the wrist. The 

 way is to seize his head and crush it, 

 killing him instantly, for an owl's head is 

 soft, and can be crushed easily. The white 

 owls are not so injurious. Sparrow-hawks 

 and kestrels are plentiful, and are con- 

 stantly trapped. The keepers insist that 

 the kestrel will occasionally take game, and 

 say that they have found wings of partridges 

 in kestrels' nests, though they allow that the 

 kestrel is not nearly so harmful as the 



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