COLLECTING. 
3 
concealed in a neighboring thicket or artificial 
bower. A very simple trap, but excellent for 
catching sparrows, may be made by tilting a com- 
mon coal sieve on one edge, keeping it up by 
means of a stick which has a cord attached to 
the middle (see Fig. i). The birds will readily go 
under the sieve, in search of food, when the trap- 
per, who is concealed at a short distance, jerks out 
the stick by means of the cord ; the sieve falls and 
the birds are captured. This trap requires con- 
stant watching, which, in cold days, is not very 
pleasant ; thus a much better trap may be found 
in one of my own inventions, which is called the 
“ Ever-ready Bird Trap.” It is made of strong 
netting stretched over wire, and is placed on the 
ground or on a board in a tree. A decoy bird, of 
the same species as those to be captured, is pro- 
