66 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. viii. 



The sticks must be pushed firmly into the ground one 

 on each side of the nest, so that the middle of the string 

 is over the centre of the nest. When so fixed the string 

 must be taut. The snares are then arranged in large 

 loops reaching from the string to the nest, so that the 

 eggs are completely surrounded and the bird cannot 

 get to them without passing through one of the snares. 

 How the snare should be set is very clearly shown in 

 the accompanying drawings, which have been very 

 kindly prepared for the purpose of explaining the method 

 to EngUsh ornithologists by Herr Titus Csorgey, the 

 Secretary of the Royal Hungarian Central Bureau for 

 Ornithology. 



Sometimes a bird will push aside the snares without 

 being caught, in which case they must be readjusted. 

 If there is a wind each snare should be fixed by stalks 

 of grass or small twigs to prevent its being blown out 

 of place. The places where the snares have been set 

 must be carefully marked, and they must be visited 

 every hour or two. If the weather is very hot the snares 

 should be visited more frequently, as if a bird is left 

 long in a snare in very hot weather it is hkely to be 

 suffocated. This, however, would seldom happen in 

 this country, and Herr Schenk informs me that of two 

 hundred birds snared this season onl}^ one — a Lapwing 

 — has been killed. 



I am afraid it is now too late to practise this method 

 this year, but I hope that next year some of our 

 " ringers " will take it up, and we may look forward to 

 some interesting results. In any case, I am much 

 indebted to Herr Herman and Herr Schenk for their 

 kindness in giving me the opportunity of seeing this 

 method worked, and of bringing it to the notice of 

 the readers of British Birds. 



