not quite so well known) is a compromise
between the bow net and the spring trap; it is useful for taking most
insectivorous birds, is easily made by anyone possessing a little
mechanical ability, and is to be bought cheaply at most of the bird
shops. As I have been asked, however, by many correspondents in the
country, where such things are to be procured, they are informed that
in the classic retreat of the Seven Dials--that is to say, in the
street running through from Charing Cross to Bloomsbury--are to be
found many bird fanciers' shops where the nightingale trap can be
procured for something under a couple of shillings.

In setting all of these traps be sure to touch them with the hands as
little as possible, especially if setting a baited trap. Gloves are
recommended to be worn, scented with musk when baiting for stoats,
weasels, etc, and with vervain or valerian if baiting for cats.

I will proceed now to the consideration of decoys. Decoys are of two
classes, fixed and mechanical, or those easily removable and natural.
Of the former the most important is what is called a decoy for wild
fowl, viz, a large tract of land and water specially fitted up with
nets of the sorts most suitable for taking ducks and similar birds,
and near which it is unlawful to fire a gun. For a thoroughly
exhaustive and interesting article on decoy ponds, see Folkard's "Wild
Fowler," pp. 44-94.

Some singular and highly original methods of catching birds are
described by ancient and modern authors. Pennant, in his "Arctic
Zoology," vol. ii, page 550, describes a quaint but doubtful method of
decoying wild geese in Siberia; he also, at page 311, records how
immense numbers of willow grouse are taken by a curious mode of
netting.

Folkard also mentions an ingenious way of capturing wild fowl in their
own element by the aid of calabashes. This, however, I think, "must be
seen to be believed," though I am bound to confess that it is partly
corroborated by other writers.

Of the lasso or the "bolas," used in South America for capturing
certain animals and birds, no description need be given, as this
method of trapping is only to be performed by a person trained from
childhood to ride and throw the lasso. The same remark applies to the
use of the blowpipe (see Bates's "Amazons"), and the Australian
"boomerang" and "throwstick."

Regarding the use of the blowpipe, I see that an American author on
Taxidermy, who has written a very good