CHAPTEK Y. 
BIKD-CATCHING. 
“ What are they, who thus, at early dawn, 
Where the rank thistle and the plantain grow, 
Set their tine nets, lime twigs, and little traps, 
Among a jocund choir of caged songsters ? 
These are the bird-catchers.” 
Trapping and the chase are so.closely related, in every 
respect, that what I have said with respect to the former 
will apply equally to the latter. Bird-catching is pro¬ 
ductive of the same pleasurable sensations,—love of the 
forest, the fresh morning air, and the joyous harmony 
of the feathered throng,—hope and expectation, loud 
rejoicing and silent delight; it is also the means of 
attaching men and birds to each other. 
Those who have not personally experienced the pleasure 
of the golden morning hour spent in this sport, who have 
never set a springe, used the trammel, the quail-net, or 
wandered about with a trap-cage under the arm, can 
offer no opinion on the charms which attach themselves 
to bird-catching. 
Moderation in all things is the true ground-work of 
every pleasure. Bird-catching, like the chase, is enticing, 
and has, doubtless, led some few astray: he, however, 
who bears this in mind and tempers his love of sport 
with humanity, may catch birds all his life without any 
