TRAPPING. 41 



or head first, when they hook themselves in attempting 

 to take in the head of the fish. 



This is the only successful way to capture sea-gulls, 

 which are even more wary than eagles and hawks. They 

 will not take a bait on a sand bar, though it may have 

 been covered by the tide, and all traces of the trapper re- 

 moved. At a glance they can tell a trap on land and pass 

 it by, no matter how tempting the bait may be. All along 

 the Atlantic coast of the United States, and particularly 

 on Long Island, I have taken many gulls in the manner 

 described, when all other contrivances to capture them 

 had failed. 



