THE REGULAR POACHER. 



421 



enable him to see a pheasant as a dark body in the trees, is 

 the one selected ; and if there is a strong wind to drown the 

 sound of the gun, so much the better. Hence it is that the 

 mock-pheasant is so useful in deceiving these men ; for if it 

 is examined at the full moon, it will never be mistaken for 

 the real bird. Nothing annoys the poacher more, for he 

 hates to shoot without any result; and, if these decoys are 

 well made, no eye can tell the real from the counterfeit. 

 The following is a cheap and good plan of making them. 

 They are very easily moved from branch to branch, a nail 

 being merely driven into a probable perch, and standing 

 upright, it is received into the hole drilled in the body, 

 which is thus secured from falling, while it sways gently 

 backwards and forwards, exactly like the living bird. Fig. 

 100 represents a the perfect bird, of which b is a section ; 

 c shows the pole from which the bodies are cut, and d the 

 lath forming the tail, fastened on with two nails. 



"^>cv 



THE MOCK I'Mi: \-.\NT. 



For partridges bushing is the best remedy that can be 

 adopted against the nets, which are yearly swept over the 

 ground wherever the poacher thinks he can do so with im- 

 punity. The bushes are often stuck in the ground at regular 

 intervals and in straight rows, but this should never be done 

 as the poachers sweep the nets up between the lines and thus 

 set the bushing at defiance. They should be stuck into the 



