f success in this and the preceding device was
that of placing the lime strings in shaded places over the most
assured haunts of the birds; and it was only obtainable on dark
nights, or in good shade, for whenever there was sufficient light for
the birds to see the least sign of the snare spread for them the
fowler had no chance of making any captives. (And be sure to take this
caution not to use these strings in moonshine nights, for the shadow
of the line will create a jealousy in the fowl, and so frustrate your
sport.) And as wildfowl in their descent, just before alighting on the
water, diverge from their accustomed angular figure, and spread
themselves more in a broad front line, a whole flight sometimes comes
swooping into the fowler's snare all at once."

A method of trapping, with the assistance of bird-lime, might, I
think, be tried with some chance of success. It is to insert a piece
of fish in a cone of paper well smeared with bird-lime, and to throw
down a few of these prepared cones in places accessible to gulls,
herons, and such birds, who, in attempting to seize the fish, would be
effectually hoodwinked, and thus easily secured.

Hawking, by which birds are captured by trained falcons, is of the
highest antiquity. Pennant mentions that the Saxon King Ethelbert (who
died in 760) sent to Germany for a cast of falcons to fly at cranes
(herons?). As this sport has now fallen into disuse, I must refer my
readers for particulars to Blaine, Daniel, Freeman, Harting, Captain
Dugmore, and to occasional articles by one or two modern falconers in
the columns of the Field.

The infinite variety of nets used in the capture of various birds
requires almost a chapter by itself; but it will suffice for the
present one if we mention those most generally used, or the most
striking varieties. First, then, comes the ordinary "clap-net" of the
London and provincial bird-catchers. The "Edinburgh Encyclopaedia"
says, with regard to clap-nets:

"Birds are also taken with nets during the day, and especially in
those seasons of the year when they change their situation; in the
month of October, for instance, when the wild birds begin to fly, and
in March, when the smaller kinds assemble for pairing. They are
chiefly on the wing from daybreak to noon, and always fly against the
wind. The birdcatchers, therefore, lay their nets towards that point
to which the wind blows. The nets employed in this way are generally
12.5 yds. l