328 AN ENGLISH GAMEKEEPER. 



catch hawks is to seal the four feet of a dead 

 mouse down to the plate of a trap, thus making 

 the mouse look as if it were alive, and place 

 trap and mouse in the meadow. 



I will next speak of decoying vermin in 

 order to shoot them. Take a dead cat, and 

 put it into a magpie's nest when the bird is 

 sitting, then make an arbour, close by, to hide 

 yourself in, which you will have plenty of time 

 to do before the bird comes back to her nest 

 to sit. When she returns she spies her enemy 

 the cat, coiled up in her nest fast asleep, as she 

 supposes, and she immediately begins to call 

 out and abuse the cat. She makes such a 

 noise that she soon brings up other flying 

 vermin from the adjoining woods. Don't 

 shoot the mother magpie at first ; let her have 

 plenty of time to abuse the cat, and swear at it 

 for being in her nest, thus attracting all her 

 neighbours. These latter, on seeing what's up, 

 perch themselves over the nest and join in a 

 chorus screaming out to awaken the cat and 

 make her quit. Now's your time, when you 

 see a good chance to kill four or five birds 



