24 



INTRODUCTION. 



Above all things, it is necessary to know the period at which 

 the different birds may be caught with least difficulty. Birds of 

 passage, i.e. those which, for the sake of a warmer climate and 

 a more abundant supply of food, annually migrate into other 

 countries, may be taken in spring or autumn. Such birds as 

 wander from place to place, not on account of climate, but to 

 procure their food, may be captured either in spring or autumn, 

 and occasionally in winter ; while those birds which always in- 

 habit the same place, may be caught at any season of the year ; 

 though, perhaps, with the greatest ease in winter, when they 

 are generally assembled in flocks of various sizes. 



In autumn, birds may be taken in great numbers in the net ; 

 some being lured to it by the call of the decoy birds, and the 

 attraction of the bait ; others, like Larks, being driven into the 

 nets spread for the purpose. Spring, however when the birds 

 are influenced by the sexual desire, and are attracted to the 

 call of the decoy bird, or the fowler, by the hope of finding a 

 mate is the best season for the bird-catcher's operations. This 

 too is the time to intercept those birds which pass the summer 

 in some more northern, and the winter in some more southern 

 regions than our own. The difference between the sexes is now 

 also more readily discerned, as it is a well-known fact, that 

 among migratory birds, the males always arrive at least a week 

 before the females. March and April are the two months in the 

 year best fitted for the purpose ; and from daybreak till 9 A.M. is 

 the best time of the day, as after that hour the birds are chiefly 

 occupied in searching for food. 



As it is a method by which almost all birds of the first and 

 second classes may be caught, I shall here describe in detail 

 the simple bird-trap used in Thuringia : 



Some strong oak or beech boughs are taken, to which the 

 faded leaves are still attached, and the ends cut off, so as to 

 produce a flat top of from 1 to 1 feet in width. Notches are 

 then made in the cut branches, in which limed twigs are inserted. 

 These decoy-bushes, as they are called, are then set up in 

 plains near which it has been observed that birds of passage 

 frequently fly. These places are not difficult of selection, as 

 it has been found by experience, that such birds generally take 

 the same route, from which they rarely deviate by more than 

 400 or 500 yards. In mountainous countries, this route gene- 

 rally crosses the vallies ; and the overhanging eminences by 



