BIRD-CATCHING. 



;i9 



Bird- 

 Cat chmg. 



with bird-lime, which is one of the most eligible 

 modes in frost or snow, when all sorts of small birds 

 assemble in floe; , and which may be used in various 

 wavs. Put the bird-lime into an earthen dish, with 

 the addition of one ounce of fresh laril to every quar- 

 ter of a pound, and melt the whole gently over the 

 fire. Take a quantity of wheat ears, with a foot of 

 the straw attached to each, and having warmed the 

 lime that it may spread the thinner, lime about six 

 inches of the straw from the bottom of the ears. 

 Scatter a little chaff and threshed ears over a compass 

 ef 20 yards ; stick the limed straws into the ground 

 with the ears inclining downwards, or even touching 

 the surface ; traverse the adjoining places, in order to 

 disturb the birds, and make them fly towards the 

 snare ; and by pecking at the ears of corn, they will 

 become so entangled with the limed straws as to be 

 easily taken with the hand. The lime may also be 

 applied to cords, rods, and twigs, especially when 

 it is intended to entangle the larger birds, such as 

 snipes and field fares ; and for this purpose the fol- 

 lowing mode may be adopted. Take the main branch 

 of any bushy tree with long straight and smooth twigs, 

 such as the willow or birch; clear the twigs from 

 every notch and prickle ; lime the branches to with- 

 in four fingers of the bottom, leaving the main bough, 

 from whicli the others rise, untouched with the com- 

 position ; and then place the bush, where the birds 

 resort. For small birds, two or three hundred sin- 

 gle twigs, about the thickness of a rush, and three 

 inches in length, may be stuck in sheaves of (lax and 

 corn. In hot and dry weather the twigs may be 

 placed around the rivulets, ditches, and pools, to 

 which the birds come for drink ; covering the waters 

 at the same time with brushwood, so that they can 

 have no access to quench their thirst, except at the 

 spot where the twigs are fixed. For this purpose, 

 the rods or twigs should be about a foot in length, 

 limed to within two inches of the thickest end, which 

 is stuck into the bank in such a manner, as that they 

 may lie within two fingers breadth of the ground ; 

 and as the birds do not alight at once upon the place 

 where they are to drink, but gradually descend trom 

 the higher trees to the lower, thence to the bushes, 

 and lastly to the bank, it is useful to fix a few branch- 

 es about a fathom from the water, in a sloping direc- 

 tion, with a few lime twig--, fastened upon them, on 

 which the birds will as frequently be caught as on 

 those which are placed nearer to the water. The 

 best time for this sport is from ten to eleven in the 

 forenoon, from two to three in the afternoon, and 

 about an hour before sunset, when the birds come to 

 the watering places in flocks before they retire to 

 roost. Spallanzani describes, in the 6th volume of 

 his Travels, the following mode of taking swallows by 

 means of bird-lime, (at the time when they are build- 

 ing their nests,) with which he amused himself in his 

 younger years. He took a slip of birch wood about 

 an inch in length, covered it with bird-lime, and fas- 

 tened it across a light feather. He then ascended the 

 roof of the out-houses, around which the swallows 

 were flying ; blew the feather to a little distance with 

 his mouth, and as it was carried away by the wind, or 

 fell slowly downwards, it was seized by the birds, a. d 

 entangling their wings by the bird-lime, made them 



Bird- 

 Catching. 



fall suddenly to the ground. Various means are employ- 

 ed to collect the birds together, and draw them towards 

 the spot where the lime twigs are fixed. They may 

 be attracted by imitating their notes with the mouth, 

 or a bird call; by living bats or owls, whicli will be 

 followed and gazed at by the other birds, and even by 

 having their skins well stuffed, or their figures carved 

 and painted in wood ; by a bird of the same kind with 

 those which are to be caught placed in a cage upon 

 forked sticks, a few inches from the ground, at a fa- 

 thom's distance from the twigs ; or by fastening some 

 of the birds that have been taken to a packthread ex- 

 tended between two sticks, allowing them so much 

 freedom that they can stand easily on the ground, 

 and when the string is pulled can fly up to a small 

 height, in order to attract those which arc hovering 

 in the air. 



Birds are taken also by various kinds of traps, By trap*, 

 which are frequently formed in a very simple man- 

 ner, of nooses made of hair, and which are pla- 

 ced in different ways for different kinds of birds. 

 The wheat-ears are so extremely timid, that they 

 take shelter under a stone, or creep into holes when- 

 ever the sun is obscured by a cloud ; and, by dig- 

 ging a number of small holes in the ground, in 

 each of which is placed a noose of hair, they are 

 taken in the open downs in great numbers. Wood- 

 cocks and snipes are caught in a similar manner, by 

 plaong the nooses along their paths, in marshy and 

 mo.st grounds. Larks and other small birds may be 

 taken in the same way, when the ground is covered 

 with snow, by stretching along the surface 100 or 

 200 yards of packthread, pegging it down at the 

 distance of every 20 yards, and fastening, at every 

 six inches, a noose of double horse hair. Some white 

 oats are scattered along the line among the nooses, 

 in order to entice the birds ; and when three or four 

 are taken, they must be removed from the noose, 

 lest the others should be debarred from aoproach- 

 ing. 



One of the most successful modes of bird-catching By nejis-. 

 is by the net, which is chiefly employed "luring the 

 night, and which requires several othe* accompani- 

 ments. Take, for instance, two light and straight 

 poles, ten or twelve feet long ; tie two corners of the 

 net to the smaller ends of tnese poles, and fasten the 

 other two corners as far as they can be stretched to- 

 wards the thicker part, connecting the sides of the 

 net along the poles with a little packthread. Search 

 for a bush or thicket to which the birds are likely to 

 have retired ; unfold the net, and pitch it exactly to 

 the height of the bush, between the wind and the birds, 

 as they always roost with their breasts towards the 

 wind. Let a person, with a lantern or lighted torch, 

 stand behind the middle of the net, while another 

 beats the bushes on the opposite side, driving them 

 towards the light, when they will readily fly to the 

 quarter where the torch is held, and fall into the net. 

 This method succeeds best in woods, where holly 

 bushes grow under the trees, and when the weather 

 is cold and dark. In open countries a trammi -net 

 may be used, which is generally about thirty-six 

 yards in length, and six in breadth, the lower end 

 of which is plumbed to make it lie close, while the 

 upper end is kept suspended at the two corners, and*. 



