CHAPTER VIII. 



HOW CAGE BIRDS ARE CAUGHT I A DAY ON BRIGHTON 



DOWNS. 



BEING- desirous of learning something of the 

 methods employed in catching such of our 

 feathered friends as give pleasure by their pretty 

 songs or interesting habits to people who cannot 

 possibly study them in their native wilds, my 

 brother and I journeyed to Brighton, on the Tth 

 November, 1896, in order to interview the bird- 

 catchers and photograph them with their engines 

 actually at work on the Downs. 



The weather had been fine and settled all the 

 week, and the sport in full progress; but no sooner 

 had we reached our destination than it began to rain 

 and blow in the most disheartening fashion, and we 

 knew that unless a considerable change for the better 

 took place, we were likely to have to return empty- 

 handed, for bird-catchers will not risk injury to their 

 decoy birds by taking them out in dirty weather. 



The following day dawned cold and hazy, with 

 a very strong wind blowing from the north-east. We 

 had a walk over the Downs, but did not see a single 

 bird-man out. In the course of our long tramp, 

 however, we observed a Goldfinch or two, several 

 flocks of Linnets and Greenfinches, Starlings and 

 Larks innumerable, besides three separate flights of 

 House Martins. The first two companies, consisting 

 of three and six birds respectively, were flying due 



