ORDER PASSERES. 519 



the case with all the birds which are driven from the north, by 

 the severity of the weather. Of the migratory thrushes, some 

 nestle in the islands of the Mediterranean, and others continue 

 their course even into Africa. They arrive, Sonnini tells us, 

 in Egypt in the month of October, and do not leave that coun- 

 try until March. They remain at no great distance from habi- 

 tations, and seek the shades of the orange and citron groves 

 which adorn some districts of lower Egypt, They do not all, 

 however, proceed so far south. Many remain during the 

 winter in our more northern climates, where tolerably numerous 

 flocks of redwings and fieldfares are to be seen during this 

 season. They frequent the meadows, and the green borders 

 of woods, of which they quit the interior. 



There are more snares laid, perhaps, for thrushes than for 

 any other birds, and the pursuit of them is very profitable. 

 Those which are most easily taken in snares or nooses are the 

 song-thrush and the redwing. These snares are, as every 

 body knows, composed of a few horsehairs twisted together 

 and forming a running knot. They are set around juniper 

 trees, &c., in the neighbourhood of some fountain or pond. 

 If the snares are properly set, in a well-chosen place, many 

 hundreds of thrushes may be caught in a day, while they are 

 on their passage. Snares are also employed baited with dif- 

 ferent kinds of berries, and placed along the hedges. 



Thrushes are also caught in nets in the following ways. 



The Spider-net is used, and so called because it envelopes 

 the birds in the same way that spiders entangle flies in their 

 web. As these spider-nets are much used in Italy and the 

 South of France, for catching not only thrushes but becaficos 

 and other birds, we shall give a short description of them. 

 The spider-net is seven or eight feet high, hy nine or ten wide: 

 it is composed of three nets, the middle one of which is the 

 largest, and is usually made of silk or thread , but silk is the best. 

 The two others are of packthread, and their meshes are square. 



This net is sometimes gathered up from one knot to another, 



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