62 LETTERS TO YOUNG SHOOTERS LETTER 



bird feeding inside the coop being careful not to 

 ' guillotine' any. By means of a small movable 

 shutter at the top of the coop you can extract its 

 occupant. 



The best opportunity for catching up the hens is 

 when there is a sprinkling of snow ; the coops and 

 corn can then be placed on swept ground, and the 

 birds will gather up well to seek for food. I have 

 taken pheasants one after another in snow time almost 

 as fast as I could re-set the fronts of the coops.* 



A very effective mode of catching wild pheasants 

 is by means of a large basket, which order the basket- 

 maker to construct of strong willows, 6 ft. square by 

 1 ft. deep, and without a lid. Place the basket on the 

 ground the open side downwards, and before use make 

 sure that it rests level, without any crevices under 

 which a bird could escape. 



Prop up the edge of the basket at one end 3 feet 

 off the ground, tie a long wire (string stretches and 

 rots, and rats cut it) to the foot of the stick that sup- 

 ports it, and pull the stick away when two or three 

 birds are within catching range. 



Feed well under the basket for several days before- 



* Bather than watch a catching coop, some keepers will, to save 

 trouble, set the front board to fall down as the pheasant displaces a 

 small figure of 4 trigger stick on entering to feed. This custom should 

 never be allowed, for though one pheasant may be caught in the coop 

 uninjured, a second one may have his back broken just as he steps 

 under the board at the moment it falls. Accidents these a ' master ' 

 might perhaps not be informed of ! 



