54 A GAMEKEEPER'S NOTE-BOOK 



snowy weather. Some keepers make a practice of 

 catching up the desired number of stock-birds before 

 covert shooting begins. Otherwise they are caught up 

 early in February so that they may settle down to 

 the new way of life before the laying season is upon 

 them. 



" Catching up " is, in its way, a fine art. One 

 secret is to place the cages, before use, in the principal 

 feeding-places without setting them for action, for a 

 few weeks. Cages of wire-netting with a roomy, hori- 

 zontal opening at one end, after the style of a lobster- 

 pot, are most effective ; a scanty trail of corn leading on 

 to an ample supply within. These cages are ever ready, 

 and so catch bird after bird ; they have the drawback 

 that if the captives become restive they are liable to 

 bark their heads on the wire. Less satisfactory traps 

 are made with lengths of wood (local underwood is 

 used preferably, to allay suspicion) and only so high 

 that when the trap is thrown the birds cannot injure 

 themselves if frightened. These traps seldom capture 

 more than one bird at a time, and they may be thrown 

 accidentally. A small annoyance of pheasant-catch- 

 ing is provided by the active little tits of the wood, 

 who carry the corn outside the cages, and scatter it far 

 and wide for the pheasants to pick up without running 

 any risk. When pheasants come regularly to feeding- 

 places in fair numbers, a large and effective cage is 

 built of hurdles, one hurdle square. The birds are 

 allowed to grow accustomed to feeding therein. One 

 day the keeper lies hidden, and makes a family catch 



