The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-20
BRITISH BIRD sNARERs.
Tricks and Devices by Which They
 Fill Their Cages.
Mall,

London Mall.
 In many quiet, remote spot on the south or east coast a belated wanderer might meet on any winter night a rough along the hedgerows or lodging nimbly from tree to tree or lying prone on the ground, his every sense apparently tuned to the acutest.
 In his hand he holds a lantern. on his back an empty sack Is strapped, while on the ground, If he Is stationary. large wooden cage stands, from which emerges the sound of beating wings. Presently the watcher will see him dart forward and hear a greater and more confused fiuttering of feathers, followed by a star tied. frightened chorus of chirps. It is the bird-catcher at work. He has spread his net over the roasting places of larks and has gathered his harvest.
 Thousands of larks fall prey to the bird-snarer during the winter months But he does not always carry on his op- erations during the nighttime. He has other methods suitable for employment at any hour of the day. In the early morning he sets a double net.
 Between its two sides Is brace bird" fastened to a peg stuck in the ground. Selected for its traitorous work because of its skill as a singer, this bird has pre- viously had wire brace twisted round the roots of the wings near the shoulder blades and the ends passed round the body and joined in a loop just over the breastbone-an ordeal few birds survive,
 Some little distance away the bird catch CT aranges a number of small cages con- taining larks trained to break into song at a signal. When he sees a flight of birds aproa ching the snarer utters a peculiar note. whereupon the caged larks pipe lustily. At the same time he tugs at a cord secured to the brace bird, which is thus jerked into the air and futters down again. The sight of one of their fellows seemingly in distress causes the flock of birds to sWoop down to It's as- sistance. Instantly the hidden snarer tugs at cord, the double net meets overhead. and the surprised birds find themselves imprisoned. The fowler promptly selects the male birds and puts them in large cage. The hens he just as quickly kills by screwing their necks.
 A contrivance of revolving mirrors hg- ures in another of the snarers wiles. Hid de1 behind bush, he tugs at cord which causes the mirrors to catch the suns rays and flash upward, after the manner of heliograph. The strong light fascinates the birds-as a candle attracts the moth. In a way they become dazed and drop near the machine, round which lined twigs are spread. The rest of the snar- CTS work IS easy.
 stuffed owl in a suitable spot. As every schoolboy knows. an owL-a live owl-can- not see in the day time and the more for tunate If less wise of the feathered king dom make sport or nlGn. but WHeI they begin to frolic with the snarer's bogus owl they find that they cannot detach themselves from his feathers. He Is thickly Timed all over. These methods are employed Tn catching other kinds of wild birds.
 It is estimated that 10000 larks for table purposes come into the London market every day. Quite as many are sacrificed for the sake of their feathers and for sale in the birdshops. In a recent county court case one of the parties stated that he generally bought 100 dozen skylarks and other British sonsbi"ds every week. witness bcfo a Parliamentary Com mittee averred that a boy could catch forty dozen goldfinches of a morning on the Downs between Kemp Town and Rot tingdean. As many as 600 llnnets are caught in one week. Good singing llunets male birds-are sold at only half crown per dozen, while ninepence will buy a doz- CT hens. Sometimes a wing Is broken and little yellow paint spread over the brown pumage and the linnet is sold as an accomplished canary.
 It is computed that nine out of ten wild birds die in captivity within few weeks, and ninety-nine out of hundred within a few months.
 In winter, however, more larks fall vic | tims to the fowler than any other kind. Sentimental reasons apart, it Is a pity
 that larke are slaughtered in their hun | dreds of thousands, for they are the far | mers friends, catching and eating in
 winter the metamorphic insects when oth- l CT birds have winged their way to sun nier climes.