THE LIMED TWIG.-THE SPRINGLE. 
i 
by the front brick, as in such a case the bird would be crushed to 
death. 
The sieve trap, another simple trap, is made by the use of a large sieve, 
which is propped up in the manner shown in the drawing. To the centre 
of the stick a fine long line should be tied, and having strewn some bait 
under the sieve, hide yourself in some place a short distance off, with the 
end of the string in your hand, and watch. When you observe a bird well 
under the sieve, give a sharp jerk, and the stick being withdrawn from the 
sieve, it will fall down over the bird. 
THE LIMED TWIG. 
The mode of catching birds by the adhesive quality of birdlime,* is one 
of the most simple methods. The substance is easily made by chewing or ma¬ 
cerating wheaten grain till it becomes “ sticky,” which every boy well knows 
how to do. When large numbers of birds are to be secured, a large branch 
or bough of a tree, after being trimmed of the leaves and small shoots, is 
coated all over with birdlime, which has been prepared on a larger scale 
than by chewing. The bough is then fixed on a low dead hedge, near a 
pond, or other place favorable to the resort of small birds. The bird-catcher, 
concealing himself as near the bough as he can, imitates the notes of the birds 
he wishes to attract. The birds approach, alight on the bough, and stick 
fast, when they are easily secured. Sometimes the birds are attracted by a 
decoy, which may be a bat or an owl, of which the latter is the best. 
Whenever an owl shows himself by daylight it is sure to be followed by all 
the small birds that see it; and when it is fastened near the limed bough, 
the birds will collect around it in great numbers, and will sooner or later 
settle on the bough, from which they may be easily taken. 
THE SPRINGLE. 
The springle is a somewhat complicated engine, but very effective as a 
bird-catcher. It consists of five parts, as follows: 
1. The Stump .—A small stout stake of wood, about five inches in length, 
which is fixed firmly in the ground, with its head about an inch above the 
surface. 
* This substance is not much known in this country, and is made abroad, from the inner 
bark of the holly. We believe that the bark of the American holly has been made to 
answer the purpose. In order that our readers, in those parts where the holly grows, may 
try it, we give the mode of making the substance in England. In warm weather common 
shoemaker’s wax is as good a birdlime, we fancy, as any. 
The bark of the holly, peeled in the month of June, should bo boiled with water in a 
pipkin till the green bark is separated from the gray ; the green bark should then be laid 
upon the stone of some outhouse and covered with rushes ; in about a fortnight’s time it 
will turn into a kind of slime: this should be beaten up in a mortar with a few grains of 
whea*, after which it may be put into an earthen vessel and kept; when required to be 
used, it should be melted over the fire, with a little goose-grease, in a dry pipkin—the 
twigs should then be smeared with it. 
