CAGE AND SINGINQ 
trap, into wliich many a robin redbreast, a cock sparrow, a ] 
jenny wren, or other of our familiar winter birds, has been i 
lured by the crumbs of bread scattered at the bottom, to the 
huge delig'ht of the expectant urchin, who rashes to seize the i 
prize, and in his eagerness most likely lets it escape, or does | 
'*t some mortal injury' . Let us observe here, by the way, /■ 
that we have no faith in the classical expedient of putting 
salt on the tail of a bird to effect its capture ; we consider ^ 
this altogether as a " popular fallacy," and reject it accord- | 
ingly. And now, having premised thus much, we will pro- f 
ceed to discuss the various methods of bird-catching practised 
by those who do it professionally, and as a means of living. 
Let it be understood that our directions here have only a 
. general application : under the head of each distinct species . 
will .be mentioned the modes of capture best adapted \ 
for it. I 
Limed Twigs. — No method is perhaps so commonly em- I 
ployed as this for the taking of birds, especially of the smaller 
kinds, and those which resort most to the coppice and the 
Jaafy woodland. It is, however, a cruel method, and should 
not be practised in cases where any other will answer ; for 
the plumage of the bird, in its struggles to escape, becomes | 
smeared all over with the lime, and so stuck together that it 
can scarcely move, and in this state it remains for a long 
f time, never quite getting rid of the annoyance until it has 
moulted. 
The mode of procedure is to procure from a druggist, 
or grocer, some of that viscid substance called bird-lime, 
which is prepared froui the inner bark of the holly, or the 
berries of the misletoe. This is smeared over the smaller 
branches or twigs of the trees or bushes, amid which the birds 
you desire to capture are known to build or perch ; when 
they alight on these limed twigs, their feet adhere to them, 
or their wings become glued together by the lime, so that 
they cannot expand them; they begin to struggle, and 
the more they do this, the more helpless do they become ; 
in this state they are easily taken, and a deplorable state 
it is. 
In the forests of Thuringia, in Germany, where bird-catch- 
ing, breeding, and training, are much practised, decoy bushes 
are often used. These are formed of strong branches of oak 
