230 HOW TO MAKE A SPRINGE. 



A, by pulling on B, presses it against the forked stick C, 

 which in turn is pressed against the upright stick D, and 

 this keeps it all in place. But on a bird stepping on the 

 forked stick C, the weight of the bird loosens its hold, and 

 the long stick A flies up, catching the victim in the snare, 

 which is laid flat on the forked stick C. 



Then, as Shakespeare hath it, 



" If the springe hold, the cock's mine." 



Winter's Tale, Act iv. Sc. 2. 



Mr. A. E. Knox, in his " Game-Birds and Wild-Fowl," has 

 described a very similar trap, and his description is so 

 animated, while at the same time so instructive, that we 

 are tempted to overlook the similarity and quote his 

 words : 



" We soon found many tracks of the woodcock on the 

 black mud ; and on one spot these, as well as the borings 

 of his beak, were very numerous. Here my companion 

 halted, and pulling out his knife, cut down a tall willow 

 rod, which he stuck firmly into the ground in nearly an 

 upright position, or perhaps rather inclining backwards. 



" On the opposite side of the run he fixed a peg, so as to 

 project only a few inches above the surface ; to this he 

 fastened a slight stick about a foot long, attached loosely 

 with a tough string, much as the swingel of a flail is to its 

 handstaff : another branch of a willow was bent into an 

 arch, and both ends driven into the soft ground to a con- 



