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ground ; observe care in having the sides of the fork point in 

 the same direction with the bent sapling; pass the button 

 through the fork, and, keeping the noose from passing through 

 with it, adjust the button in a perpendicular position, tiie upper 

 end resting against the side of the fork above, the lower end 

 pressing against a piece of wood six inches in length, a quarter 

 of an inch wide and an eighth of an inch thick, called the 

 spindle, which is passed between the extreme lower end of the 

 button and the fork. Open the noose and extend it before and 

 around the spindle and keep it raised from the ground to the 

 lieight of an inch or more, by thrusting into the ground within 

 the noose a circle of pieces of small sticks. The snare is now 

 ready to set, which is simply done by affixing to the end of the 

 spindle, within the noose, a small sweet apple or portion of a 

 larger one. It will be seen that the animal, in order to touch 

 the apple, must pass its head into the noose ; the moment the 

 bait is touched the spindle drops, the button of course flies out, 

 the noose is drawn tightly around the rabbit's neck, and it is 

 instantly strangled. A little practice will enable one to set this 

 snare in about the time it takes to write a description of it, and 

 it excels anything that can be prepared for the capture of 

 rabbits. 



The other mammals, not heretofore mentioned, found in New 

 England, are either beneficial or neutral in value on the farm. 

 The weasels, minks, &c., are open to the same praises and 

 objections with the skunk ; the bats are beneficial ; the foxes, 

 raccoons, bears and cats are both beneficial and injurious, prob- 

 ably leaning more to the latter quality ; and the ruminantia, 

 including the moose and deer, are now so far from being 

 numerous, and their habits leading them to forests, that any 

 damage inflicted by them must be very inconsiderable. 



Birds. 



"We now pass to the very large and interesting class, the 

 birds. If we should say that none of these are really pests, 

 that all should be protected and encouraged on the farm, and 

 thus dismiss them, we would, perhaps, in this general average, 

 do justice to both birds and man ; but there are a few species 

 whose lives have placed them prominently before us, and about 

 whom there is already much controversy, which we cannot 

 pass by without devoting to them a small portion of our atten- 

 tion. 



Probably the most important of these is the robin, and cer- 

 tainly none has been the subject of more discussion. At the 

 outset I am willing to acknowledge that to small fruit-growers, 

 generally the robin is a pest and a nuisance ; that it spares 

 neither grapes, cherries, berries, nor ripe pears, and that with 



