DECOYS FOR WILD FOWL. 24 



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rusty old rascals (some of them wlien old assiuiic 

 a very rusty appearance), in winging tlieir search- 

 ing- flights about six or seven feet above the heath, 

 come upon one of my traps, — the bait a dead 

 rabbit or eggs, as the case might be, — I have seen 

 them then pause in tlieir flight, hover or dwell 

 over the spot where the trap was, and then cry out 

 as if in loud derision, winging their way on and 

 resuming their flight of search in other places. 

 Where there are old crows of this description 

 haunting the vicinity of a decoy, they can often 

 be taken thus. Ducks, when they first begin to 

 lay, will drop their eggs occasionally about, not 

 in nests, and often in shallow water. These 

 chance eggs in the eyes of a crow don't look like 

 purposely-placed baits; therefore a bait of this 

 sort can be Avith success adopted in very shallow 

 water — w^ater enough to cover the egg, and yet 

 let it be visible to a bird's quick eye. Around 

 this egg, and beneath the Avater, — for the Avater 

 that covers the one Avill be deep enough to conceal 

 the more flat proportions of the other, — the traps 

 should be set. CroAvs and moor-falcons Avill both 

 Avalk in Avater up to their hocks if after eggs, and 



they are sure to step into one trap or the other. 



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