COLLECTING. 7 



the adhering lime. In case of a rare specimen, 

 the lime may be removed from the plumage by the 

 aid of alcohol, or the bird will remove it in time, 

 if permitted to live. Good bird-lime is difficult 

 to procure ; that made from linseed-oil and tar, 

 boiled down, is the best ; but this process must 

 be carried on in the open air, as the mixture is 

 exceedingly inflammable. The sticky mass thus 

 obtained must be worked with the hands under 

 water, until it assumes the proper consistency. In 

 spreading lime on the sticks, the fingers should be 

 wet to prevent the lime sticking to them. Another 

 way in which I have taken such unsuspicious birds 

 as pine grosbeaks, crossbills and red-polls, is by 

 placing a noose of fine wire on the end of a pole, 

 and by approaching a tree cautiously, in which the 

 birds were feeding, have managed to slip it over 

 their heads, when they are drawn fluttering down- 

 ward, and the noose removed, before any per- 

 manent injury is done. I have even taken pine 

 grosbeaks in an open field in this manner, and have 

 ascended a tree and captured them with only the 

 noose attached to a stout piece of wire, in my hand. 

 Section II. : Shooting. — Although, as shown, 

 many valuable species may be secured by trap- 

 ping, snaring, etc., yet the collector relies mainly 



