6 MANUAL OF TAXIDERMY. 



or eagle may be used in this way as a decoy, but 

 the great horned owl is by far the best. 



In using steel traps, care should be taken to wrap 

 the jaws with cloth, so as to prevent injury to the 

 legs of the bird captured. Vultures may be taken 

 in steel traps by simply baiting them with any kind 

 of flesh. Many species of birds may be success- 

 fully captured by one or another of the methods 

 given. In fact, we are in constant receipt of 

 trapped birds during the proper seasons, and thus 

 many hawks and owls which would have been 

 difficult to procure are taken in numbers by our 

 collectors. 



Bird-lime, although scarcely advisable when the 

 birds are intended to be preserved, may be used 

 to advantage in capturing birds for the cage. A 

 small quantity of it is spread on a twig or small 

 stick, one end of which is lightly stuck in a notch 

 on some upright branch or stem, in such a position 

 that the bird must alight on it in order to reach 

 the bait. The stick should be poised so lightly 

 that the slightest touch of the bird's feet will cause 

 it to drop, when the bird, giving a downward 

 stroke with its wings to save itself from falling, 

 will strike the outer quills against the stick, and 

 thus both feet and wings become fastened to it by 



