BIRD-CATCHING. 
5 2 
With this apparatus the fportfmati is to walk leifurely 
backwards and forwards, having the birds betwixt him- 
felf and the net, as (hewn at R QST V, approaching nearer 
and nearer by very flow degrees, until he has got the 
birds within the extended wings of the net; for the par¬ 
tridges will move farther and farther from the flalking- 
horfe, till they come clofe up to the mouth of the tunnel, 
where for a moment they will flop, when, one or two of 
the young covey running in, all the reft will inftantly fol¬ 
low and be taken. Thefe methods, however, are contrary 
to law, both for pheafants and partridges, and conftitute 
what is termed poaching ; for the pains and penalties of 
which, fee the article Game-laws. 
QUAILS. 
Quails may be taken by means of the call, which may 
alfo be purchafed at any of the bone or ivory turners, or 
at the toy-lhops. The beft feafon for this fport is from 
the beginning of Auguft to the end of September. Tire 
proper hours are at fun-rifing, at nine in the morning, at 
three in the afternoon, and juft before fun-fet; for at thefe 
times the quails begin to prowl in quell of food. If there 
be any Handing corn, high Hubble, or feed clover, where 
quails ufe, a net fliould be planted at the tide of it. Any 
common drag-net, or two or three garden-nets joined 
tniwife, will do for this purpofe. It mud be remarked, 
that the notes of the cock and hen are very different, and 
the fportfman who expefls to fucceed in taking them mud 
be very expert at both ; for, when the cock calls, the an- 
fwer is to be made in the hen’s note ; and, when the hen 
calls, the anfwer tnuft be made in the cock’s. Fix the 
bottom of the net clofe to the ground, and fpread the 
other part over the edge of the corn or Hubble, &c. in 
which the quails are fuppofed to be. Then lie down in 
the adjacent hedge, or in any other place of concealment 
behind the net, and call indifferently either by the cock 
or hen’s note, until one of them anl'wer, when it is to be 
returned as above directed ; if they are apart when they 
bear the call, they will come towards the net; but, if they 
are together, they will not feparate. If the precife times 
above-mentioned are obferved, the chance of their being 
difperfed in feeking their food will be great, and the fuc- 
cefs of the fport will principally depend upon it; for then 
both cock and hen will run towards the fpot from whence 
they hear the call, as will alfo the young bevy, conceiv¬ 
ing it to be the parent bird ; and they will run out of the 
fide of the corn or grafs into the net, without feeing it till 
they are entangled, which the quail-catcher will inftantly 
perceive by their flying up againft it, when he is to run 
and take them. 
WOODCOCKS, SNIPES, PLOVER, Be. 
Woodcocks ufually migrate into this country about the 
middle of October, and. go away again in March. They 
do not in general flay above eight or ten days in a place, 
but fhift about from one covert to another. They feldom, 
if ever, fly in the day-time, unlefs dillurbed in their 
haunts; and then they go but afmall diftance, intoa thick¬ 
er or higher part of the wood. There they feek the void 
fpaces, and abide all day, fearching under the dead leaves 
for earth-worms, &c. When night arrives, they fly out 
of the covert in quell of water and meadows, where they 
may drink and waflr their bills, which they have fouled 
by boring and thrufting into the earth ; and, having palled 
the night in this manner, as foon as the day begins to 
dawn, they return again into the woods. They fly always 
low' and along the edge of the covert, or through open 
pathways, roads, or walks, cut in the woods; for they 
dare not fly among the trees, becaufe, like hares, they 
cannot fee well before them ; for which reafon they are 
eafily taken in nets, fixed acrofs the narrowed parts of the 
walks or pathways where they are obferved morning and 
evening to fly ; and which fliould be, if poffible, in the 
centre between two tall trees; for then they cannot go 
afide, and the whole flight, even a dozen at a time, have 
been taken by this contrivance. The proper net to be 
iifed for woodcocks'is called a draw-net, conftrufled as 
(hewn in the preceding plate, where it is reprefented as 
fixed up, and ready for the fport. The two upper corners 
of the net are fixed by means of a pair of box or brafs 
pulleys, over which muft pafs turn running cords, fatten¬ 
ed to the corners of the net, which muft have tome 
fmall weights, or pieces of lead, at the bottom. The pul¬ 
leys are to be fixed to the upper branches of two oppolite 
trees, by which the net will be fufpended between them, 
as fhewn in the figure. The two lower ends of the cords 
muft be tied to the trunks of the trees; and fixed lightly 
to a ftone or block at a little diftance upon the ground ; fo 
that when the birds take their flight, and ftrike againft 
the net, the running-firing will inftantly give way, and 
the net will fall by means of the weights and pulleys* 
whereby the birds will inevitably be entangled and caught. 
There is another method of taking woodcocks, by 
fpringes or fprings, made of twifted horfe-hair, which 
are fattened to wooden rods or pins, and planted in the 
paths or runs they are obferved to make in the coppices; 
which may be known by obferving the dead leaves turned 
over and ranged on each fide, which is done in fearching 
for the worms and grubs under them ; and alfo by their 
frequent muting, which may be obferved upon the dry 
leaves, in watery places, of a whitifh grey colour. When 
thefe difeoveries are made, feveral dozen of the fpringes 
fliould be fixed down clofe to the ground, with the horfe- 
hair noofes flat and moderately open ; fo that, as the wood¬ 
cocks run along, they will unavoidably entangle their feet, 
and be caught by the legs. To catch them by the tides 
of gulleys arid rills of running water, the method is to 
build a fmall hedge eight or ten inches high, on the bank- 
fide, with broom, furze, brambles, or any other light 
material, leaving little holes or doorways about four or 
five feet apart, all along in the hedge. Juft within thefe 
doorways the fprings are to be fet; for, when the wood¬ 
cocks come to the water at night, they will run along the 
bank, and, meeting with the hedge in their way, if it be 
ever fo low they will not fly over it, but will feek for a 
hole or opening, till they come to a doorway, When they 
will inftantly pafs through, and be taken. 
There are other fprings, conftrmSled in a more artful 
and ingenious manner, and by which woodcocks, fnipes, 
plover, and all birds that ufe wet and marfhy places, may 
be caught. The method is this : firft find out the runs, 
gulleys, or water-plafties, through which the birds run, 
which may be eafily difeovered on mornings and evenings 
by the paddling of their feet. Then take a number of 
fmall fhort rods, and plant them crofs-wife in the form of 
a chevaux de frife, from the fide of the gulley or rill to a 
confiderable diftance ; making as it were a kind of fence 
to guard every way except one towards the edge of the 
water, through which the birds fliould go. This being 
done, take a ftiff (lick of hazel, cut flat on each fide, and 
Hick both ends into the ground at the narrow end of the 
chevaux de frife, clofe to the water’s edge, fo that the flat 
upper part may appear like a bridge juft above the top of 
the water ; then make a bow of a fmall willow twig, irr 
the form of a pear, broad and round at one end, and nar¬ 
row at the other, and about a foot long, with a little nick 
cut in at the narrow end ; then take a ftiff young plant or 
(hoot of alder or willow, with a bulky top, but clear of 
knots ; and, having made the bottom end (harp, fallen at 
the top a very ftrong loop of horfe-hair, to flip and run 
at pleafure, which loop muft be juft the fize of the wil¬ 
low bow above-mentioned ; then, clofe by the loop, within 
an inch and a half of the bottom of the alder-plant, faf- 
ten a little broad thin trigger, fo that, when the alder-plant 
is (luck in the ground clofe to the water-fide, the loop and 
the trigger might be juft above the little bridge ; then 
the willow-bow, bent in the form of a pear, being laid 
upon the bridge, one end of the trigger muft be placed 
upon it, in the little nick at the narrow end ; the horfe- 
hair loop muft then be laid upon the willow bow, in fuch 
a man- 
