Old Tricks 229 



the woods are regularly watched such a plan has 

 become impracticable. It might indeed be done 

 once, but surely not twice where competent keepers 

 were about. 



Nets were also used for hares and rabbits, which 

 were driven in by a dog ; but, the scent of these animals 

 being so good, it was necessary to work in such a 

 manner that the wind might not blow from the net, 

 meeting them as they approached it. Pheasants, 

 as every one knows, roost on trees, but often do not 

 ascend very high ; and, indeed, before the leaves are 

 off they are said to be sometimes taken by hand — 

 sliding it along the bough till the legs are grasped, just 

 as you might fowls perched at night on a rail across 

 the beams of a shed. 



The spot where they roost is easily found out, 

 because of the peculiar noise they make upon flying 

 up ; and with a little precaution the trees may be 

 approached without startling them. Years ago the 

 poacher carried a sulphur match and lit it under the 

 tree, when the fumes, ascending, stupefied the birds, 

 which fell to the ground. The process strongly re- 

 sembled the way in which old-fashioned folk stifled 

 their bees by placing the hive at night, when the 

 insects were still, over a piece of brown paper dipped 

 in molten brimstone and ignited. The apparently 



