SPORTSMEN, FARMERS, &C. 105 



night shooters, or those who stifle them 

 at roost with brimstone, cannot, by such 

 means, destroy them in a furze cover. 



Wood-pidffeons are very easily cauo^ht how to catch 



^ ^ J J o Wood-Pigeons, 



in hard weather, particularly when snow 

 is on the ground. You have but to sweep 

 the snow on one side, for about a dozen 

 yards long, and about three feet broad. 

 Lay about twenty small eel-hooks, fastened 

 by a peg into the ground, with a small 

 bean on each : be sure you put the point 

 of the hook only, through the top of the 

 bean, and the barb standing quite out, on 

 the side ; otherwise, if the hook be totally 

 buried in the bean, when the bird struggles, 

 he will pull the hook out of his throat. 



I think, as good a way as any, is to 

 punc h two or three holes in horse-beans, 

 with an iron bodkin, and then boil them in 

 some common ^in : many will be so drunk 

 that they cannot fly up ; others will perch 

 on the adjacent trees ; watch _ them, and 

 you will see them tumble down> 



If you have a large pond, or lake, fre- ^^iVfowf^^ 

 quented by wild-fowl ; in the shallow wa- 

 ter, about one foot deep, where you observe 



