B I R 



521 



B I R 



Bird- signals which he receives. His associate, iu the 



Catching. m ean time, " hovering in mid air," springs from the 



v " "V~ ' face of the rocl - by the aid of a staff, to avoid the 



projecting cliffs, and thus conveys himself along from 



place to place, rifling the nests as he proceeds. 



A similar method is practised in the 1'eroe Islands, 

 where the cliffs are in many places 200 fathoms high. 

 The fowlers provide themselves with a rope about 

 100 fathoms in length, which is fastened round the 

 waist of one of their number, whoisthen lowered down 

 the precipice by six associates ; and a piece of board is 

 laid on the margin of tiie rock to prevent the rope 

 from being cut by the friction. The adventurer is, 

 at the lame time, furnished with a small line, by 

 winch he gives signals for his being raised, lowered, 

 or moved from place to place ; and with a strong 

 thick, cap to defend his head from the stones, whicn 

 are frequently displaced by the shifting of the rope. 

 With inconceivable dexterity he pushes himself with 

 his feet several fathoms from the front of the preci- 

 pice, surveys the haunts of the birds, and darts into 

 the openings where he has discovered their nests. 

 When these recesses are deep, he disengages himself 

 from the rope, which he fastens to a stone ; collects 

 the booty at his leisure, and suspends himself as be- 

 fore. He will sometimes even spring from the rock, 

 and, with a fowling-net fixed to the end of a staff, 

 catch the old birds that are flying around their re- 

 treats. At other times the party go in a boat to 

 the foot oi the precipice ; and one of the most da- 

 ring, with a rope about his middle, and a long pole, 

 with a hook at one end, in his hand, either climbs, 

 or is pushed by his companions, to the nearest foot- 

 ing place. By means of the rope he draws up the 

 other adventurers in succession, each provided with 

 his cord and fowling staff. In this manner they pro- 

 ceed upwards, till they rt-ach the habitations of the 

 birds ; and the booty is flung down into the boat, 

 which is rowed along to attend their operations. 

 They frequently divide themselves into pairs, and 

 proceed iu different directions ; and when they dis- 

 cover the nests of the birds below their station, one 

 of them suffers himself to be let down by his compa- 

 nion, depending upon his single strength for safety. 

 In these perilous pursuits the fowler3 often spend 

 en or eight days at a time, and lodge during the 

 night in the recesses of the rock. 



In Mexico and China aquatic birds are taken by 

 the natives in the following very simple but ingeni- 

 ous manner. Empty gourds are left continually 

 floating on the lakes, to which the birds resort, that 

 they, may be accustomed to approach them without 

 alarm. The bird-catcher enters the lake with his 

 bi.dy under water, and his head covered with a 

 gourd; quietly advances to the ducks -and geese 

 that are swimming on the surface, and pulls them by 

 the" feet under the water, securing in this manner as 

 many as lie can carry away. 



In some of the remoter parts of Russia, great 

 quantities of gelenottes or grous are taken by a 

 i, or inverted cone, which is made of long 

 birch twigs stuck in the earth, very near to each other, 

 and forming an opening at the top, about a yard in 

 .ji-ner. In this opening is placed a wheel made of 

 two circles, intersecting each other, surrounded with 



VOL. III. PART III. 



straw or ears of corn, and turning on an axis fasten- Bird-Lime 

 -ed to the sides of the funnel. Above the cone is a """"" v ~ ** 

 cross stick, which rests upon two long forks planted 

 upright, and from which is suspended a bundle of 

 ears of corn. The birds, first of all, perch upon 

 this transverse piece of wood ; and then descend to 

 the corn placed upon the wheel. As soon as they 

 alight upon one of the projecting parts of the circles, 

 the wheel turns, and they fall headlong to the bot- 

 tom of the trap. 



In different parts of Italy, the wild pigeons, on 

 their return from the northern and western countries 

 of Europe, are caught by means of nets, which are 

 stretched across tiie hollows of the mountains, 

 through which the birds direct their course. These 

 nets are hung upon trees or lofty poles, planted for 

 the purpose ; and, by means of a pulley, are made 

 to drop in a heap upon the slightest impulse. A 

 watchman is stationed, on a lofty circular turret, at 

 a little distance from the place where the snare is 

 laid ; and when he observes the doves approaching, 

 he slings a stone, or shoots an arrow trimmed with 

 hawk's feathers above them. Upon this, the whole 

 flock, apprehending the object as it is falling down 

 to be a bird of prey, descend with the utmost speed, 

 to pass under the trees ; dash in a body against the 

 net, which instantly falls to the ground ; and are 

 thus entangled in such a manner, as to become an. 

 easy prey to the active hand of the fowler. See a 

 variety of other modes of bird-catching detailed in 

 Pennant's Birds of Great Britain. Encyclopedic 

 Methodique. Arts et Metiers, torn. v. p. 373. Reau- 

 mur, Histoire des Lisectes, torn. vi. Buffon, His- 

 toire des Oiseaux, particularly the articles Allouette 

 Spipolette, Rouge-gorge, Mottcux ou ad-blanc, Me- 

 saitge, Becasse, Pluvier. (y) 



BIRD-Lime, a glutinous matter of a very pecu- 

 liar nature, is employed for catching birds, mice, 

 and other vermin ; and prepared from different sub- 

 stances, in a great variety of ways. In former times, 

 it was made chiefly from the berries of the misletoe 

 of oak, which were first boiled in water, then pound- 

 ed, and the water poured off, in order to carry 

 away the seeds and rhind. In England, it is gene- 

 rally made from the middle bark of holly, which is 

 boiled in water, seven or eight hours, till it become 

 soft and tender. After the water has been drained 

 off, it is laid in masses in the earth, covered with 

 stones, and left to ferment during a fortnight or three 

 weeks. When thus changed into a kind of muci- 

 lage, it is taken from the pit ; pounded in mortars 

 till reduced to a paste ; washed and kneaded in river 

 water till freed from all extraneous matters, it is 

 left in earthen vessels, four or five days, to purify 

 itself by fermentation ; and is then put up for use or 

 commerce. In every kingdom, however, and almost 

 in every district, there is a different mode of prepa- 

 ring this substance ; and some profess to make a se- 

 cret of their peculiar process. The mode employed 

 by M. Bouillon Lagrange is, to take a sufficient 

 quantity of the second bark of holly, to bruise it 

 well, and boil it in water four or five hours ; to pour 

 off the water, to deposit the bark in pits in earthen 

 pans, to moisten it from time to time with a little 

 water ; to let it remain till it become viscous, and to 

 3u 



