TRAPS AND TRAPPING. 403 



long; beak black; iris pale blue; forehead and crown greyish 

 white, the feathers forming a crest capable of being raised at 

 pleasure ; nape and back of a cinnamon brown ; wing coverts 

 barred with black, white, and pale blue across their outer 

 webs; primaries dusky black with the outer edges white; 

 secondaries black, each having a white patch on the outer 

 web; the last tertials of a rich chesnut colour; upper tail 

 coverts white; tail black; chin white; under parts buff 

 colour; legs, toes, and claws brown. The colours of the 

 female resemble those of the male. 



TRAPS AND TRAPPING. 



Before entering upon a consideration of the various modes 

 of taking vermin by traps, it will be necessary to describe 

 the details of their mechanical construction, but more par- 

 ticularly the principles upon which they are framed. With 

 the exception of the common wire or snare, which is of little 

 use in reference to vermin, all traps may be divided into two 

 sets 1st, those which take the animal alive, of which the 

 box or hutch-trap is the type; and 2ndly, those which catch 

 it between two jaws, which fall together either by the force 

 of a spring or by gravity, when a trigger is moved as for 

 example, the common gin or steel trap, the figure of 4 trap, 

 the weasel trap recently described in the Field by "High 

 Elms," &c. &c. The live traps all act upon the same principle 

 as the dead ones that is to say, by the pulling of a trigger, 

 to which is generally fastened a bait; but in their case the 

 result is to cause one or two trap doors to fall, which enclose 

 the animal within a space from which it cannot escape. 

 Both may be set baited or unbaited in the latter case, being 

 placed where the animal sought to be taken is likely to come, 

 and both being so concealed as not to awaken suspicion. 

 My own opinion is, that the hutch trap and the gin are 

 sufficient for all purposes, and that all dead traps are inferior 

 to the latter for this plain reason, that they act in exactly 

 the same way by a plate and trigger, and have the serious 

 objection that they cannot be concealed. Wherever a figure 

 of 4, or a " High Elms' " trap can be set, the common gin can 

 be set far better, and more safely too, for it may always be 

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