THE STALE. 245 



alighted near it either the net was pulled over them, or 

 they were caught in the snares. 



Beaumont and Fletcher speak of " stales to catch kites " 

 (Hum. Lieut, iii. 2). Sometimes a live bird was pegged 

 down instead of a stuffed one, and was doubtless much 

 more effective, since " one bird caught, served as a stale to 

 bring in more."* 



Shakespeare has employed the word " stale " in this 

 its primary sense, in his Comedy of Errors (Act ii. Sc. 1), 

 in The Tempest (Act iv. Sc. 1), and in the Taming of 

 the Shrew (Act iii. Sc. 1). But commentators do not 

 seem to be agreed on its meaning. In Act i. Sc. 1, of the 

 last-mentioned play, where it occurs again, it certainly 

 admits of a different interpretation. 



Instructions for making a " stale " will be found in 

 "The Experienced Fowler" (London, 1704). At page 18 

 of this curious little volume, the author says :• — " You may 

 shoot a lark or some other bird, take out the entrails, stuff 

 him with tow, and dry him in an oven, his wings set in a 

 flying posture ; and so you may be furnished at all times." 

 This device was chiefly resorted to for taking the ruff 

 and reeve, and other fen birds, which fetched good prices 

 for the table. Now-a-days, the bird-catchers who take 

 linnets, goldfinches, and other small songsters, almost 

 invariably peg down live decoy birds with a foot or so 

 of string to the legs, in the centre of a pair of clap-nets. 



But to return to wild-fowl. Puck compares the fright- 



* Sidney, "Arcadia," ii. p. 169. 



