CAGE AND SINGING BIRDS. 
3 
or beech, wliicli are cleared of leaves to within a foot or so of 
the summit ; the upper twigs projecting- from them are then 
spHt, and in the openings limed rods are inserted. The 
bushes so prepared are stuck into the ground in some ele 
vated spot, over which the desired birds usually pass in the 
course of their migTation ; and it is curious to remark, says 
Bechstein, how closely the migratory birds generally keep 
to a determinate line or path, if one may so speak. Beneath 
these bushes are placed cages, tenanted by decoy birds, and 
covered with fir branches, so that neither the occupants nor 
the passing migrants can see each other ; the latter, attracted 
by the call notes of the foricer, alight among the limed twigs, 
from which they are unable to extricate themselves, and 'so 
are taken. On elevations ad. joining valleys these bushes ar« 
most advantageously placed ^ as, in hilly districts, the birds, 
in migrating, generally follow the course of a valley. It is 
best to have for decoy birds those which have been captured 
when grown up, as those reared from the nest have not the 
natural call note so perfect as the others, and frequently 
utter acquired notes, which are strange and scaring to the 
wild birds. 
The best time for employing this mode of capture is in the 
months of March and April, when the migratory songsters are 
coming in from their southern wintering places; they are 
then eager for pairing, and easily attracted by the call- 
notes of tlie decoys, which should be females. The early 
part of the day, too, that is, from the dawning until nine 
o'clock, should be chosen, for after the latter hour the birds 
are so fully engaged seeking for food, that they will rarely 
listen to the calls > In the annual migrations of many of the 
best songsters it has been observed that the males and females 
arrive in separate flocks, the former a few days in advance of 
the latter, therefore such bird-catchers as are earliest in the 
field are the most likely to secure male birds. 
There are several other ways of using the limed twigs, 
which will naturally suggest themselves to the mind, and 
therefore need not be described. 
The Water Trap. — From some secluded spring 
woodland stream, where birds resort to drink, dig a narrow 
channel into which a portion of the water can flow, and over 
this, unon half hoops, or bent boughs, resting upon sticks, 
