TO TAKE WOODCOCKS BY DRAW-NETS, ETC. 89 



middle of a stick cleft with the point of a knife ; then 

 open it, and put in the end of the horse-hair noose, 

 make knots to keep it tight, and also to hinder it from 

 passing through the cleft : this stick is about the thick- 

 ness of the little finger and about a foot long, being 

 sharp-pointed at one end, the better to fix it in the 

 ground. Having bundled them up, go into a coppice, 

 such as has most leaves, in order to find if any wood- 

 cocks are there ; this may be perceived by the leaves on 

 the ground, which will be ranged both on one side and 

 the other by the woodcocks, in searching for worms 

 under them, and by their droppings, which are of a dark 

 grey colour. When you find there are woodcocks 

 there, take a round of about forty or fifty paces, which 

 is represented by the following directions : 



The most proper places for this purpose are amongst 

 bushes and small coppices, and the manner thus. Sup- 

 pose the branches marked ABODE were so many 

 stumps ; make a small hedgerow, of half a foot high, 

 of broom, furze, brambles, &c., from one stump to an- 

 other, leaving a gap in the middle for the woodcocks to 



