412 



and this is taken advantage of to place an unbaited gin there^ 

 into the jaws of which they are apt to drop their legs. But 

 all are strongly attached to their young, and, cruel as it 

 seems to be, this instinct is the keeper's strongest aid in 

 obtaining possession of them. It will, therefore, be desirable 

 to include under these heads all the various kinds of winged 

 vermin, so that in setting any particular trap or bait the 

 keeper may know which of his enemies is likely to be taken 

 by it. 



1. Birds which strike their prey on the ground. The eagle, 

 the kite, the kestrel, the sparrow-hawk, the buzzard, the 

 harriers, the owls, the raven, the carrion crow, the hooded 

 crow, the magpie. 



2. Birds which only take it on the wing The peregrine 

 falcon, the hobby, the merlin, the sparrow-hawk. 



3. Birds which will take a dead bait. The kestrel (rarely), 

 the raven, the carrion crow, the hooded crow, the magpie. 



4. Egg-destroyers, which are tempted by the egg of any bird. 

 The raven, the carrion crow, hooded crow, the jackdaw, the 

 magpie, the jay. 



5. Birds which are apt to perch on any elevated post or stone, 

 where a trap may be set unbaited. The buzzard, the harriers, 

 the sparrow-hawk, the kestrel, the jackdaw, the jay, and, 

 though more rarely, the peregrine falcon, hobby, and merlin. 



Guided by these known habits, the keeper proceeds to lay 

 his plans for circumventing the several species which infest 

 his beat ; but he will have great trouble with most of them, 

 and especially with the various hawks, which can scarcely 

 be trapped at all excepting in the breeding season, when 

 their nests must be sought for, and as soon as the young are 

 nearly fledged they must be taken alive; then selecting an 

 open space, tolerably near the place of their nativity, fence it 

 in, where necessary, with thorns, so as to exclude cats, stoats, 

 &c., which may be taken with less valuable baits, and there 

 set half-a-dozen steel traps, properly concealed, round a circle 

 in which one of the poor little victims is securely fastened 

 by the leg to a strong peg by a leather strap six inches long. 

 If there are several of these young ones, two may be thus 

 surrounded, one for each parent bird, and at some little 

 distance from each other, reserving the remainder for a 



