DECOYING AND TRAPPING- ANIMALS. 35 



of the staves, a nick being cut in each, for this purpose. Exactly 

 in the centre of the forked line the pull line is knotted, at 

 the other end of which the hirdcatcher stands at varying 

 distances, according to the bird he wishes to catch ; for instance, 

 for linnets or goldfinches, thirty to forty yards ; for starlings a 

 greater distance is required; or to capture these wary birds 

 a better plan is to place the nets in one field while you retire 

 into another, bringing the pull line through an intervening 

 hedge. 



Cages containing birds are dispersed about on the outer 

 edges of the nets, the best, or call birds, being placed farther 

 away ; in fact, my informant thinks that if all the cages were 

 placed a moderate distance away from the nets it would be 

 better, as he has found that the usual red or green cages have 

 been the means of "bashing" — i.e., frightening — the wild birds 

 away from the nets. 



" When doctors diif er, who shall decide ? " 



On mentioning the above to another birdcatcher he gave a 

 huge snort of dissatisfaction, and roundly swore that my man 

 knew "nought about it," for he always set his cages as near 

 the nets as possible; "for don't it stand to reason," quoth he, 

 "that if you set your cages fur away, your 'call birds' will 

 'tice the wild 'uns down round 'em? an' they won't come 

 near your nets." 



An important actor in the performance is the " play-bird," 

 which is a bird braced by a peculiar knot or " brace," as shown in 

 rig. 6, on an arrangement called the play-stick. 



The "play-stick" is resolvable into three parts, Eig. 7 being the 

 ground peg, formed of a piece of hard wood about six inches 

 long, having a round hole bored through close to the top, 

 through which the "play-line" passes. Immediately underneath 

 is a square slot for the reception of a piece of brass tube beaten 

 flat at one end (Fig. 8), while the other end is left open for the 

 reception of the "play-stick" (C, Fig. 9), simply a rough twig or 

 piece of hard wood, upon which the bird is tied by the " brace " 

 (Fig. 6) — which is constructed, as shown in drawing, by doubling 

 a piece of string, tying a knot in the centre and then joining 

 the ends. The head and body of the bird is thrust through, 

 so that a loop catches it on each side and in front of the 



D 2 



