The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1919-02-01
old ITALIAN SPORT
Peculiar Method of Sharing Mi
grating Pigeons
At CaVa del Tirreni the Birds Are Way,
laid With Nets and slings-Mueh
Ingenuity Necessary to Sc
cure Good bag"

1t Is not often that one across
a little place that has an ingenious
n exciting sport all its own. At Cava
del Tirreni in Italy, however, there
has for a thousand years existed q pc
culiar form of pigeon catching. 1t was
introduced in S92, says Mr.. Herbert Vi
Wan in Italy at War and it has -four
ished ever since. AT the beginning of
every autumn great focks of pigeons
migrate from Siberia to Africa and
pass over Cava and the Gulf Of Saler-
no. They probably have other routes,
but Cava is the only place where they
are waylaid with nets and sings. The
season is at it's height from the 18th to
25th of October.
The pigeon catchers are mostly men
of the lower middle class, who club to-
gether to form six societies, or
games" A game usually consists of
three or four towers and a clearing
where the nets are set up. One tower
Is probably a thousand yards from the
net, and the nearest perhaps seventy
yards, but the distances vary. The
towers are tall and slim, windowless
and weather-beaten. There are steps
about halfway up the inside, and a
rickety ladder leads to the parapet at
the top. Each society has also a neat
little clubhouse, usually near the chief
tower.
In a merry mood the members take
their places in the fresh morning air.
Most of them are dressed in velveteen
coats, top-boots and peaked caps. Two
men ascend each tower and the rest
are distributed among the nets. In
each of the clearings stands q small
house from the center of which rises
a tall black mast. To that two huge
nets are fastened, stretching right and
left to clumps of trees and spreading
out Obliquely to the ground. Inside
the house is a handle and a cogwheel
for raising the weighted nets. The
lookout place is a straw hut two or
three miles away in the direction from
which the pigeons are expected. When
the watcher sights n flock of birds he
gives a signal OF his horn, which other
watchers scattered about the woods
take up.
The birds travel at a tremendous
speed, always with q leader. and in
flocks of from 80 to 100. Every one
:akes to cover, for the birds are easily
frightened. The men on the towers
are provided with long sings and
whitewashed stones about the size of
small hens eggs. These they discharge
with great force. The pigeons, it is
said, mistake the stones for hawks and
make frantic efforts to avoid them,
so the singers must fling the stones
where they do not wish the birds to
go; yet when they are flying high, a
stone flung beneath them will bring
them hurting downward. Then, with
loud cries, the watchers drive them to-
ward the nets. The stOnp-slinging is
the essence Of the sport, and it re-
quires strong muscles, a quick eye and
n steady aim.
But the netting is also difficult. The
man at the ropes is white and nerv-
GUS; everything now depends upon
him, If he releases the weight at the
right moment, the net comes down in
stantly and the birds are bagged. A
moment too soon, and they see the
danger and avoid it; a moment too
late and they pass in safety. 1t is a
matter of an instant, and many more
f1ocks escape than are taken.
The birds are gray and somewhat
smaller than the domestic pigeon.
They cannot be trained or tanned. The
sport is far from being profitable, for
when they have good luck the
pigeon catchers never take enough
birds to pay for the elaborate prepara-
tion they have made. But the moment
when the nets whirl down at Cava is
a moment of rare excitement.