Instructions for Banding Birds. 9 
Leaving these doors partly open, and the outer door ajar a few 
inches, makes an effective funnel trap. Figure 7 illustrates the 
ground plan and the correct position of the doors when the trap 
is set. A trap of this type, operated by the writer at the National 
Zoological Park in 1920, was very satisfactory, catching thrushes, 
orioles, warblers, and other species that are reluctant to enter smaller 
traps. 
DROP TRAP. 
The drop trap, a device which is merely an adaptation of the old 
and well-known “ sieve trap,” is easily and cheaply made and, al- 
though not usually automatic in its operation, has already proved 
very useful at many stations. It is particularly serviceable in the 
Bi639 
ic. 8.—Drop trap made by covering a wooden frame with small-mesh twine netting. 
When made in this way, it is advisable to have each corner supported by a “ leg” about 
3 inches long. Canvas or duck is stretched between these legs, thus eliminating 
danger to any bird that might be struck as the trap falls. Gathering cage at the left. 
(Photograph by S. Prentiss Baldwin.) 
summer, when, because of an abundance of natural food, many birds 
hesitate to venture into the compartments of “cage traps.” (Fig. 8.) 
The best form of drop trap is that of an inverted tray made of 
wire netting (fig. 9), one side supported 8 to 10 inches above the 
ground by a light stick to which the “ pull string ” is attached. The 
tray should be about 4 feet square and 4 to 6 inches deep. It is made 
with a single piece of $-inch-mesh wire cloth. Two sides are first 
bent to right angles, in the manner previously described, and cuts 
made at the four corners for a distance equal to the depth wanted 
in the tray. The other two sides, being cut so that they also can be 
bent, are bent up, and the projecting portions of the first two are 
bent around them and wired fast to make the corners of the tray. 
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