286 BRITISH SONG BIBDS. 



weight of the tile D, bears upon it. At the bottom and around the 

 trap some seed should be scattered, and the apparatus is then com- 

 plete. The instant a bird, attracted by the seed, alights on the forked 

 twig, it jerks up, and of course displaces the slender prop of the tile, 

 which instantly falls and encloses the little adventurer. This trap 

 may be made of four bricks only, one brick being used instead of the 

 tile, and so placed, that when it falls it will rest on the edge of the 

 brick marked B, so as not to crush the bird. 



The SIEVE - TRAP only requires a sieve, a 

 piece of stick and a string, as shown in the en- 

 graving. When the ground is covered with 

 snow, a space about the size of the sieve should 

 be cleared, and some ashes sprinkled on the 

 spot, then a few crumbs of bread, or red berries 

 1 scattered on the ashes. The sieve should be 

 propped up, over the clear space, by a bit of 

 stick; and to the middle of the prop, a piece of 



fine twine, of sufficient length to reach the window or hiding-place, 

 must be fastened; at the place of concealment the contriver takes 

 his station to watch all the comers, and the instant he sees any birds 

 settle beneath it, to enjoy the banquet spread before them, he jerks 

 the string, the sieve falls, and those which are unfortunate enough 

 to be under, are immediately trapped. You must then take a cloth 

 or apron and draw it cautiously under the sieve, taking care not to 

 elevate the sieve so as to allow the birds to escape, raise the ends of 

 the cloth to the centre, arid carry your prizes into the house. 



HORSE-HAIR NOOSES, employed in the winter for catching larks, 

 are thus made and set: when the ground is covered with snow, 

 take about a hundred yards of packthread, and at every six inches 

 fasten a noose composed of two horsehairs twisted together, with 

 a loop which will draw tight when the bird drags at it. When 

 you set them, thrust little pegs into the earth every twenty yards, 

 and fasten the packthread to them, so as to keep the nooses at about 

 the height of a lark when running. Scatter a quantity of white oats 

 on the snow, from one end of the line to the other; and when the 

 birds haste to partake of the food, they will speedily get entangled 

 in the nooses, from which, of course, they must be immediately 

 taken out. 



The SPRINGLE, which is rather a complicated affair, is one of the 

 most efficient traps in use, and is constructed in the following 

 manner : Get a hazle switch of four feet in length, and to the taper 

 end of it tie a piece of string of about fifteen inches in length, and 

 near the end of this string fasten a catch or little piece of wood of 

 half an inch in length, a quarter of an inch in breadth, and the eighth 

 of an inch in thickness ; and this piece of wood must be slightly 

 bevelled off at one end, so as to adapt it to a notch in the 

 " spreader." A very loose slip-knot must next be fastened to the 

 end of the spring, below the catch, and then the spring part of the 

 machine is complete, as shown at Fig. 1 in the illustration. The 



