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HOW TO MAKE A SPRINCxE. 
A, by pulling on B, presses it against the forked stick C, 
which in turn is pressed against the upright stick D, and 
this keeps it all in place. But on a bird stepping on the 
forked stick C, the weight of the bird loosens its hold, and 
the long stick A flies up, catching the victim in the snare, 
which is laid flat on the forked stick c. 
Then, as Shakespeare hath it,— 
“ If the springe hold, the cock's mine.” 
Winter’s Tale, Act iv. Sc. 2. 
Mr. A. E. Knox, in his “ Game-Birds and Wild-Fowl,” has 
described a very similar trap, and his description is so 
animated, while at the same time so instructive, that we 
are tempted to overlook the similarity and quote his 
words :— 
“ We soon found many tracks of the woodcock on the 
black mud ; and on one spot these, as well as the borings 
of his beak, were very numerous. Here my companion 
halted, and pulling out his knife, cut down a tall willow 
rod, which he stuck firmly into the ground in nearly an 
upright position, or perhaps rather inclining backwards. 
“ On the opposite side of the run he fixed a peg, so as to 
project only a.few inches above the surface ; to this he 
fastened a slight stick about a foot long, attached loosely 
with a tough string, much as the swingel of a flail is to its 
handstafif: another branch of a willow was bent into an 
arch, and both ends driven into the soft ground to a con- 
