BIRD-Catching

BIRD-Catching, the art of taking birds or wild-fowl, whether for food, for the pleasure of their song, or for their destruction as pernicious to the husbandman, &c. The methods are by bird-lime, nets, decoys, &c. See BIRD-Lime, infra; and DECOY.

In the suburbs of London (and particularly about Shoreditch) are several weavers and other tradesmen,

who, during the months of October and March, get their livelihood by an ingenious, and, we may say, a scientific, method of bird catching, which is totally unknown in other parts of Great Britain. The reason of this trade being confined to so small a compass, arises from their being no considerable sale for singing-birds except in the metropolis: as the apparatus for this purpose is also heavy, and at the same time must be carried on a man's back, it prevents the bird-catchers going to above three or four miles distance.

This method of bird-catching must have been long practised, as it is brought to a most systematical perfection, and is attended with a very considerable expense.

The nets are a most ingenious piece of mechanism; are generally twelve yards and a half long, and two yards and a half wide; and no one, on bare inspection, would imagine that a bird (who is so very quick in all its motions) could be caught by the nets flapping over each other, till he becomes eye-witness of the pullers seldom failing.

The wild birds fly (as the bird-catchers term it) chiefly during the month of October, and part of September and November; as the flight in March is much less considerable than that of Michaelmas. It is to be noted also, that the several species of birds of flight do not make their appearance precisely at the same time, during the months of September, October, and November. The pipet (A), for example, begins to fly about Michaelmas; and then the woodlark, linnet, goldfinch, chaffinch, greenfinch, and other birds of flight succeed; all of which are not easily to be caught, or in any numbers, at any other time, and more particularly the pipet and the woodlark.

These birds, during the Michaelmas and March flights, are chiefly on the wing from day-break to noon, though there is afterwards a small flight from two till night; but this however is so inconsiderable, that the bird-catchers always take up their nets at noon.

It may well deserve the attention of the naturalist whence these periodical flights of certain birds can arise. As the ground, however, is ploughed during the months of October and March for sowing the winter and lent corn, it should seem that they are thus supplied with a great profusion both of feeds and insects, which they cannot so easily procure at any other season.

It may not be improper to mention another circumstance, to be observed during their flitting, viz. that they fly always against the wind: hence there is great contention amongst the bird-catchers who shall gain that point; if (for example) it is westerly, the bird-catcher who lays his nets most to the east, is sure almost of catching every thing, provided his call-birds

are good: a gentle wind to the south-west generally produces the best sport.

The bird-catcher, who is a substantial man, and hath a proper apparatus for this purpose, generally carries with him five or six linnets, (of which more are caught than any singing bird), two gold-finches, two green-finches, one woodlark, one red-poll, a yellow-hammer, tit-lark, and aberdavine, and perhaps a bullfinch; these are placed at small distances from the nets in little cages. He hath, besides, what are called sur-birds, which are placed within the nets, are raised upon the flur (B) and gently let down at the time the wild bird approaches them. These generally consist of the linnet, the goldfinch, and the greenfinch, which are secured to the flur by what is called a brace (C); a contrivance that secures the birds without doing any injury to their plumage.

It having been found that there is a superiority between bird and bird, from the one being more in song than the other; the bird-catchers contrive that their call-birds should moult before the usual time. They therefore, in June or July, put them into a close box under two or three folds of blankets, and leave their dung in the cage to raise a greater heat; in which state they continue, being perhaps examined but once a-week to have fresh water. As for food, the air is so putrid, that they eat little during the whole state of confinement, which lasts about a month. The birds frequently die under the operation; and hence the value of a stopped bird rises greatly. When the bird hath thus prematurely moulted, he is in song whilst the wild birds are out of song, and his note is louder and more piercing than that of a wild one; but it is not only in his note he receives an alteration, the plumage is equally improved. The black and yellow in the wings of the goldfinch, for example, become deeper and more vivid, together with a most beautiful gloss, which is not to be seen in the wild bird. The bill, which in the latter is likewise black at the end, in the stopped-bird becomes white and more taper, as do its legs: in short, there is as much difference between a wild and a stopped-bird, as there is between a horse which is kept in body-clothes and one at grass.

When the bird-catcher hath laid his nets, he disposes of his call-birds at proper intervals. It must be owned, that there is a most malicious joy in these call-birds to bring the wild ones into the same state of captivity; which may likewise be observed with regard to the decoy-ducks. See Decoy.

Their sight and hearing infinitely excels that of the bird-catcher. The instant that the (B) wild birds are perceived, notice is given by one to the rest of the call-birds, (as it is by the first hound that hits on the scent to the rest of the pack); after which, follows the same sort of tumultuous ecstasy and joy. The call-birds, while

while the bird is at a distance, do not sing as a bird does in a chamber; they invite the wild ones by what the bird-catchers call short jerks, which, when the birds are good, may be heard at a great distance. The ascendency by this call or invitation is so great, that the wild bird is stopped in its course of flight; and, if not already acquainted with the nets (x), lights boldly within 20 yards of perhaps three or four bird-catchers, on a spot which otherwise it would not have taken the least notice of. Nay, it frequently happens, that if half a flock only are caught, the remaining half will immediately afterwards light in the nets, and share the same fate; and should only one bird escape, that bird will suffer itself to be pulled at till it is caught; such a fascinating power have the call-birds.

While we are on this subject of the jerking of birds we cannot omit mentioning, that the bird-catchers frequently lay considerable wagers whose call-bird can jerk the longest, as that determines the superiority. They place them opposite to each other, by an inch of candle; and the bird who jerks the oftener, before the candle is burnt out, wins the wager. We have been informed, that there have been instances of a bird's giving 170 jerks in a quarter of an hour; and we have known a linnet, in such a trial, persevere in its emulation till it swooned from the perch: thus, as Pliny says of the nightingale, vita morte finit sepe vitam, spiritu prius desiciente quam cantu†. It may be here observed, that birds when near each other, and in flight, seldom jerk or sing. They either fight, or use short and wheedling calls; the jerking of these call-birds, therefore, face to face, is a most extraordinary instance of contention for superiority in song.

To these we may add a few particulars that fell within our notice during our inquiries among the bird-catchers; such as, that they immediately kill the hens of every species of birds they take, being incapable of singing, as also being inferior in plumage; the pippets likewise are indiscriminately destroyed, as the cock does not sing well: they sell the dead birds for three-pence or fourpence a dozen. These small birds are so good, that we are surprised the luxury of the age neglects so delicate an acquisition to the table. The modern Italians are fond of small birds, which they eat under the common name of beccaficos; and the dear rate a Roman tragedian paid for one dish of singing birds is well known; (see the article Æsor).

Another particular we learned, in conversation with a London bird-catcher, was the vast price that is sometimes given for a single song-bird, which had not learned to whistle tunes. The greatest sum we heard of, was five guineas for a chaffinch, that had a particular and uncommon note, under which it was intended to train others: and we also heard of five pounds tea shillings being given for a call-bird linnet.

A third singular circumstance, which confirms an observation of Linnæus, is, that the male chaffinches fly by themselves, and in the flight precede the females; but this is not peculiar to the chaffinches. When the tit-larks are caught in the beginning of the season, it frequently happens, that forty are taken and not one

female among them: and probably the same would be observed with regard to other birds (as has been done with relation to the wheat-eat), if they were attended to. An experienced and intelligent bird-catcher informed us, that such birds as breed twice a year, generally have in their first brood a majority of males, and in their second, of females, which may in part account for the above observation.

We must omit mention of the bullfinch, though it does not properly come under the title of a singing-bird, or a bird of flight, as it does not often move farther than from hedge to hedge; yet, as the bird sings well on account of its learning to whistle tunes, and sometimes flies over the fields where the nets are laid, the bird-catchers have often a call-bird to ensnare it, though most of them can imitate the call with their mouths. It is remarkable with regard to this bird, that the female answers the purpose of a call-bird, as well as the male, which is not experienced in any other bird taken by the London bird-catchers.

The nightingale is not a bird of flight, in the sense the bird-catchers use this term. Like the robin, wren, and many other singing birds, it only moves from hedge to hedge, and does not take the periodical flights in October and March. The persons who catch these birds, make use of small trap-nets, without call-birds; and are considered as inferior in dignity to other bird-catchers who will not rank with them. The arrival of the nightingale is expected by the trappers in the neighbourhood of London, the first week in April: at the beginning, none but cocks are taken; but in a few days the hens make their appearance, generally by themselves, though sometimes a few males come along with them. The latter are distinguished from the females not only by their superior size, but by a great swelling of their vent, which commences on the first arrival of the hens. They are caught in a net-trap, the bottom of which is surrounded with an iron ring; the net itself is rather larger than a cabbage net. When the trappers hear or see them, they strew some fresh mould under the place, and beat the trap with a meal-worm from the baker's shop. Ten or a dozen nightingales have been thus caught in a day.

The common way of taking larks, of which so many are used at our tables (see ALAUDA), is in the night, with those nets which are called trammels. These are usually made of 36 yards in length, and about six yards over, with six ribs of pack-thread, which at the ends are put upon two poles of about 16 feet long, and made lesser at each end. These are to be drawn over the ground by two men, and every five or six steps the net is made to touch the ground, otherwise it will pass over the birds without touching them, and they will escape. When they are felt to fly up against the net, it is clapped down, and then all are safe that are under it. The darkest nights are properest for this sport; and the net will not only take larks, but all other birds that roost on the ground; among which are woodcocks, snipes, partridge, quails, field-fares, and several others. In the depth of winter people sometimes take great numbers of larks by nooses of horse-hair. The method

is this: Take 100 or 200 yards of packthread; fasten at every six inches a noose made of double horse-hair; at every 20 yards the line is to be pegged down to the ground, and so left ready to take them. The time to use this is when the ground is covered with snow, and the larks are to be allured to it by some white oats scattered all the way among the nooses. They must be taken away as soon as three or four are hung, otherwise the rest will be frightened; but though the others are scared away just where the sportsman comes, they will be feeding at the other end of the line, and the sport may be thus continued for a long time.—Those caught in the day are taken in clap-nets of fifteen yards length, and two and a half in breadth; and are enticed within their reach by means of bits of looking-glass, fixed in a piece of wood, and placed in the middle of the nets, which are put in a quick whirling motion by a string the larker commands; he also makes use of a decoy-lark. These nets are used only till the 14th November: for the larks will not dare, or frolic in the air, except in fine sunny weather; and of course cannot be inveigled into the snare. When the weather grows gloomy, the larker changes his engine, and makes use of a trammel net, twenty seven or twenty-eight feet long, and five broad; which is put on two poles, eighteen feet long, and carried by men under each arm, who pass over the fields and quarter the ground as a setting dog: when they hear or feel a lark hit the net, they drop it down, and so the birds are taken.

Multitudes of the inhabitants of each cluster of the Orkney Isles feed during the season on the eggs of the birds of the cliffs. The method of taking them is so very hazardous, as to satisfy one of the extremity to which the poor people are driven for want of food. Copinska, Huuda, Hoy, Foulis, and Noss-head, are the most celebrated rocks; and the neighbouring natives the most expert climbers and adventurers after the game of the precipice. The height of some is above fifty fathoms; their faces roughened with shelves or ledges sufficient only for the birds to rest and lay their eggs. To these the dauntless fowlers will ascend, pass intrepidly from the one to the other, collect the eggs and birds, and descend with the same indifference. In most places the attempt is made from above: they are lowered from the slope contiguous to the brink, by a rope, sometimes made of straw, sometimes of the bristles of the hog: they prefer the last even to ropes of hemp, as it is not liable to be cut by the sharpness of the rocks; the former is apt to untwist. They trust themselves to a single assistant, who lets his companion down, and holds the rope, depending on his strength alone; which often fails, and the adventurer is sure to be dashed to pieces, or drowned in the subjacent sea. The rope is often shifted from place to place, with the impending weight of the fowler and his booty. The person above receives signals for the purpose, his associate being far out of sight; who, during the operation, by help of a staff, springs from the face of the rocks, to avoid injury from the projecting parts.

But the most singular species of bird-catching is on the holm of Noss, a vast rock severed from the isle of Noss by some unknown convulsion, and only about sixteen fathoms distant. It is of the same stupendous

height as the opposite precipice, with a raging sea between; so that the intervening chasm is of matchless horror. Some adventurous climber has reached the rock in a boat, gained the height, and fastened several stakes on the small portion of earth which is to be found on the top; correspondent stakes are placed on the edge of the correspondent cliffs. A rope is fixed to the stakes on both sides, along which a machine, called a cradle, is contrived to slide; and, by the help of a small parallel chord fastened in like manner, the adventurer wafts himself over, and returns with his booty.

The manner of bird-catching (see Pl. XCVII. fig. 7.) in the Feroe islands is so very strange and hazardous, that the description should, by no means be omitted. Necessity compels mankind to wonderful attempts. The cliffs which contain the objects of their search are often two hundred fathoms in height, and are attempted from above and below. In the first case, the fowlers provide themselves with a rope 80 or 100 fathoms in length. The fowler fastens one end about his waist and between his legs, recommends himself to the protection of the Almighty, and is lowered down by six others, who place a piece of timber on the margin of the rock, to preserve the rope from wearing against the sharp edge. They have besides a small line fastened to the body of the adventurer, by which he gives signals that they may lower or raise him, or shift him from place to place. The last operation is attended with great danger, by the loosening of the stones, which often fall on his head, and would infallibly destroy him, was it not protected by a strong thick cap; but even that is found unequal to save him against the weight of the larger fragments of rock. The dexterity of the fowlers is amazing; they will place their feet against the front of the precipice, and dart themselves some fathoms from it, with a cool eye survey the places where the birds nestle, and again shoot into their haunts. In some places the birds lodge in deep recesses. The fowler will alight there, disengage himself from the rope, fix it to a stone, and at his leisure collect the booty, fasten it to his girdle, and resume his pendulous feat. At times he will again spring from the rock, and in that attitude, with a fowling-net placed at the end of a staff, catch the old birds which are flying to and from their retreats. When he hath finished his dreadful employ, he gives a signal to his friends above, who pull him up, and share the hard-earned profit. The feathers are preferred for exportation: the flesh is partly eaten fresh, but the greater portion dried for winter's provision.

The fowling from below has its share of danger. The party goes on the expedition in a boat; and when it has attained the base of the precipice, one of the most daring, having fastened a rope about his waist, and furnished himself with a long pole with an iron hook at one end, either climbs or is thrust up by his companions, who place a pole under his breech, to the next footing spot he can reach. He, by means of the rope, brings up one of the boat's crew; the rest are drawn up in the same manner, and each is furnished with his rope and fowling-staff. They then continue their progress upwards in the same manner, till they arrive at the region of birds; and wander about the face of the cliff in search of them. They then act in pairs;

one fastens himself to the end of his associate's rope, and, in places where birds have nestled beneath his footing, he permits himself to be lowered down, depending for his security on the strength of his companion, who has to haul him up again; but it sometimes happens that the person above is overpowered by the weight, and both inevitably perish. They sling the fowl into the boat, which attends their motions, and receives the booty. They often pass seven or eight days in this tremendous employ, and lodge in the crannies which they find in the face of the precipice.

In some remote parts of Russia there is practised a singular invention for taking great quantities of gelinottes or grouse. They choose the most open places in the birch woods; and there they plant long forks in the earth opposite the larger trees. On these forks is laid a horizontal stick, gallows-wife, to which are tied small bundles of ears of corn. At a small distance from this part of the contrivance, is a kind of large funnel or inverted cone, made with long birch twigs, thin and flexible, the lower extremities of which are stuck in the earth, very near to one another; but by spreading towards the top, forms there an opening of above a yard in diameter. In this opening is placed a wheel made of two circles that intersect each other, and are surrounded with straw and ears of corn. This wheel turns on an axis fastened to the sides of the funnel in such a manner, that there is room enough between the sticks of the cone and the circles to admit of the wheel's turning freely about. The birds first perch upon the transverse stick near the tree; and when they have a mind to fall upon the corn tied to the wheel, they must necessarily stand upon one of the projecting parts of the circles of which it is composed. At that instant the wheel turns, and the gelinotte falls, head foremost, to the bottom of the trap, which is there so contracted that he cannot get out. They sometimes find the machine half full of gelinottes.

The following method of netting or catching of wild pigeons is eagerly pursued as a diversion in different parts of Italy, particularly by the inhabitants of Cava in the Hither Principato, and is thus described by Mr Swinburne. The people "assemble in parties; and if any stranger chances to stray to their rendezvous, give him a most cordial welcome. I am not in the least surprised (says Mr Swinburne) at their passionate fondness for this sport, as I found it extremely bewitching, keeping the attention constantly alive, and the springs of the mind pleasingly agitated by expectation; the situations where the toils are spread are incomparably beautiful, the air is pure and balsamic, and every thing around breathes health and satisfaction. When the periodical flights of stock-doves return from the northern and western parts of Europe to gain warmer regions for their winter abode, the fowler repairs to the mountain and spreads his nets across the intermediate hollows, the passes through which the birds direct their course, to avoid unnecessary elevation in their flight. These nets are hung upon a row of large trees planted for the purpose. The branches being very thick and close at top, and the bole lofty and bare, a great opening is left below for the toils, which reach to the ground; and by means of pulleys, fall in a heap with the least effort. Sometimes they are extended upon poles that exceed the

height of the trees. At a small distance is a lofty circular turret, like a column with a little capital or cap, upon which a man is stationed to watch the approach of the game. As he commands a free view over all the country, and practice has made his sight as acute as that of the lynx, he deserts the birds at a wonderful distance. The doves advance with great velocity; but the alert watchman is prepared for them; and just as they approach his post, hurls a stone above them with a sling: upon this the whole flock, whose fears have birds of prey for their great object, supposing the stone to be an enemy of that kind ready to pounce them, dart down like lightning to avoid the blow by passing under the trees; but there they rush into the jaws of death, by dashing against the net, which instantly drops and so entangles them that not one of them can escape the active hands of the fowler. These birds are sometimes taken by dozens at one fall, and are accounted fine eating. The dexterity with which the slingers manage their weapon is very remarkable; they throw the stone to a great height without any violent effort, and even without whirling the sling round before they discharge the pellet. In the Pyrenean mountains, where the same diversion is followed, the watchmen use a bow and arrow, trimmed with the feathers of a hawk."

The following simple but ingenious method of catching aquatic birds is used in Mexico by the natives. The lakes of the Mexican vale, as well as others of the kingdom, are frequented by a prodigious multitude of ducks, geese, and other water-birds. The Mexicans leave some empty gourds to float upon the water, where those birds resort, that they may be accustomed to see and approach them without fear. The bird-catcher goes into the water so deep as to hide his body, and covers his head with a gourd: the ducks come to peck at it; and then he pulls them by the feet under water, and in this manner secures as many as he pleases.

Bird-Lime, a viscous substance, prepared after different ways. The most common bird-lime among us is made from holly-bark, boiled ten or twelve hours; when the green coat being separated from the other, it is covered up a fortnight in a moist place; then pounded into a tough paste, so that no fibres of the wood are discernible, and washed in a running stream till no motes appear; put up to ferment four or five days, skimmed as often as any thing arises, and laid up for use. To use it, a third part of nut-oil, or thin grease, must be incorporated with it over the fire.

The juice of holly-bark is a very peculiar substance. But if trials were made, it seems probable, that many other juices would be found to have the same clammy nature. The mistletoe affords a juice, even superior to that of the holly; and if a young shoot of the common alder be cut through, there will a stringy juice draw out in threads, and follow the knife like bird-lime or the juice of the holly. It seems in this tree to be lodged, not in the bark, but in certain veins just within the circle of the wood. The roots of all the hyacinths also afford a tough and stringy juice of the same kind; and so does the asphodel, the narcissus, and the black bryony root, in a surprising quantity.

When twigs, &c. smeared with bird-lime, are to be put in places subject to wet, the common bird-lime is apt

Bird. apt to have its force soon taken away. It is necessary, therefore, to have recourse to a particular sort, which from its property of bearing water unhurt, is called water-bird-lime; and is prepared thus: Take a pound of strong and good bird-lime; wash it thoroughly in spring-water, till the hardness is all removed; and then beat it well, that the water may be clean separated, so as not a drop remains; then dry it well, and put it into an earthen pot; add to it as much capon's grease as will make it run. Then add two spoonfuls of strong vinegar, one spoonful of oil, and a small quantity of Venice turpentine. Let the whole boil for some minutes over a moderate fire, stirring it all the time. Then take it off; and when there is occasion to use it, warm it, and cover the sticks well with it. This is the best sort of bird-lime for snipes and other birds that love wet places.

The most successful method of using the common bird-lime is this: Cut down the main branch or bough of any bushy tree whose twigs are thick, straight, long, and smooth, and have neither knots nor prickles. The willow and the birch-tree afford the best of this kind. Let all the superfluous shoots be trimmed off, and the twigs all made neat and clean; they must all be well covered with the bird-lime, within four inches of the bottom; but the main bough from which they grow, must not be touched with the lime. No part of the bark, where the lime should come, must be left bare: but it is a nice matter to lay it on properly; for if it be too thick, it will give the birds a distaste, and they will not come near it; and if there be too little of it, it will not hold them when they are there. When the bush is thus prepared, it must be set up in some dead ledge, or among some growing bushes near the outskirts of a town, a farmer's back-yard, or the like, if it be in the spring; for these places are the resort of the small birds at that time. If it be used in summer, the bush must be placed in the midst of a quick-set hedge, or in groves, bushes, or white-thorn trees, near fields of corn, hemp, flax, and the like; and in the winter, the proper places are about stacks of corn, hovels, barns, and the like. When the lime-bush is thus planted, the sportsman must stand as near it as he can, without being discovered; and with the mouth, or otherwise, make such sort of notes as the birds do when they attack or call to one another. There are bird-calls to be bought for this use; but the most expert method is to learn the notes of call of the several birds, and imitate them by a sort of whistling. When one bird is thus enticed to the bush, and hung fast, the business of the sportsman is not to run up to take it, but to be patient; for it will hang itself more fast, by its struggling to get away; and its fluttering will bring more to the bush, so that several may be taken together. The time of the day for this sport is from sun-rise to ten o'clock, and from one to sun-set. Another very good method of bringing the birds together, is by a stake: a bat makes a very good stake; but it must be fastened, so as

to be in sight at a distance. An owl is a still better stake; for this bird never goes abroad but it is followed by all the small birds in the neighbourhood. They will gather together in great numbers about it; and having no convenient place to sit on but the lime-bush, will be taken in great numbers. If a living owl or bat is not to be had, the skin stuffed will serve the purpose, and will last twenty years. Some have used the image of an owl carved in wood, and painted in the natural colours; and it has been found to succeed very well.

Divination by Birds.

Migration of Birds.

Nidification of Birds.

AUGURY.

MIGRATION.

ORNITHOLOGY.

Singing Birds are, the nightingale, blackbird, starling, thrush, linnet, lark, throats, Canary-bird, bulfinch, goldfinch, &c. See some very curious experiments and observations on the singing of birds, Phil. Trans. vol. lxxii. part ii. N 31. Their first found is called chirp, which is a single sound repeated at short intervals; the next call, which is a repetition of one and the same note; and the third found is called re-cording, which a young bird continues to do for ten or eleven months, till he is able to execute every part of his song; and when he is perfect in his lesson, he is said to sing his song round. Their notes are no more innate than language in man; they all sing in the same key. The honourable author Daines Barrington has there attempted to reduce their comparative merits to a scale: and to explain how they first came to have particular notes. See Songs of Birds.

Methods of preserving Birds from putrefaction, and so as to retain their natural form and position, as well as the beauty of their colours and plumage—A good antiseptic for animal substances has been much inquired after; as for want of it, many curious animals, and birds particularly, come to our hands in a very imperfect state; some from foreign parts entirely misceant, and others of the finest plumage are devoured by insects. Various methods of preservation, therefore, have been of late described*; but the following improved methods by Dr Lettsom† seem to be the least troublesome and the most complete.

* After opening the bird by a longitudinal incision from the breast to the vent; dissecting the fleshy parts from the bones; and removing the entrails, eyes, brains (r), and tongue; the cavities and inside of the skin are to be sprinkled with the powders mentioned below: the eyes (o) are then to be inserted, and the head stuffed with cotton or tow: in the next place, a wire is to be passed down the throat through one of the nostrils, and fixed into the breast-bone: wires are also to be introduced through the feet, up the legs and thighs, and inserted into the same bone; next, fill the body with cotton to its natural size, and sew the skin over it: the attitude is lastly to be attended to; and in whatever position the subject is placed to dry, that same position will be retained afterwards.

"The

(r) In large birds, the brains may be extracted by the eyes; the best instrument for this purpose is a director used by surgeons, which may be had of an instrument-maker at a trifling expence.

(o) Wax (used by some) is not a proper substance for eyes; there are persons in London, whose business it is to make glass-eyes of any size or colour, at a penny or two-pence a pair.

“ The drying compound is as follows :

Mix the whole together, and keep it in a glass vessel stopped close.

“ Small birds may be preserved in brandy, rum, arrack, or first runnings; though in this manner the colour of the plumage is liable to be extracted by the spirit.

“ Large sea-fowl have thick strong skins, and such may be skinned; the tail, claws, head, and feet, are carefully to be preserved, and the plumage stained as little as possible with blood. The inside of the skin may be stuffed as recommended above.

“ Kuckahn observes †, that ‘ baking is not only useful in fresh preservations, but will also be of very great service to old ones, destroying the eggs of insects; and it should be a constant practice once in two or three years to bake them over again, and to have the cases fresh washed with camphorated spirit, or the sublimate solution, which would not only preserve collections from decay much longer, but also keep them sweet.’

“ One of the best preservatives, is to procure close boxes, well glazed: with such a precaution I have kept them in a dry room many years without the least appearance of injury.—Baking is apt to crimp and injure the plumage, unless great care be used; and therefore the proper degree of heat should be ascertained by means of a feather, before such subjects are baked.

“ When the subject is to be kept for some time in a hot climate, it should be secured in a box filled with tow, oakum, or tobacco, well sprinkled with the sublimate solution.”

In Guiana, the number and variety of beautiful birds is so great, that several persons in the colony advantageously employ themselves, with their slaves and dependants, in killing and preserving these animals for the cabinets of naturalists in different parts of Europe.

The method of doing this, as related by Mr Bancroft *, is, “ to put the bird which is to be preserved in a proper vessel, and cover him with high wines, or the first running of the distillation of rum. In this spirit he is suffered to remain for 24 or 48 hours, or longer, according to his size, till it has penetrated through every part of his body. When this is done, the bird is taken out; and his feathers, which are no ways changed by this immersion, are placed smooth and regular. It is then put into a machine, made for the purpose, among a number of others, and its head, feet, wings, tail, &c. are placed exactly agreeable to life. In this position they are all placed in an oven, very moderately heated, where they are slowly dried; and will ever after retain their natural position, without danger of putrefaction.”

Mr Edwards’s Recipe for making Pictures of Birds, with their natural feathers†. First, take a thin board, or pannel of deal, or wainscot well seasoned, that it may not shrink; then smoothly paste on it white paper, and let it dry; and if the wood casts its colour through,

Nº 46.

you may paste on a second paper, and it will be whiter: let the second paper dry; then get ready any bird that you would represent, and draw it as exact as may be on your papered pannel, of its natural size (middle-sized birds are best for this work); then paint what ground-work, or tree, or other thing, you design to set your bird on, together with the bill and legs of the bird in water-colours, leaving the bird to be covered with its own natural feathers. You must first prepare the part to be feathered, by laying on pretty thick gum Arabic, dissolved in water, with a large hair-pencil: then lay the pannel flat, and let it dry hard; and when dry, cover it with your gum-water a second time, and let it dry; and then a third, in case you do not find it lie with a good body on the paper; the thickness of a shilling, when dried hard, is sufficient. When your piece is thus prepared, take the feathers off from your bird as you use them; beginning always at the tail and points of the wing, and working upwards to the head; observing to cover that part of your draught with the feather that you take from the same part in your bird, letting them fall one over another in their natural order: you must prepare your feathers by cutting off the downy part that is about their bottoms; and the larger feathers must have the insides of their shafts shaved off with a knife to make them lie flat; the quills of the wings must have their inner webs clipped off, that in laying them the gum may hold them by their shafts. When you begin to lay them, take a pair of steel pliers to hold the feathers in; and have some gum-water, not too thin, and a large pencil, ready to moisten the gummed ground-work by little and little as you work it: then lay your feathers on the moistened parts; which must not be waterish, but something tacky or clammy to hold the feathers. You should prepare a parcel of small leaden weights, in the form of sugar-loaves; which you may cast in sand, by first making holes in its surface with a pointed stick: these weights will be necessary to set on the feathers you have newly laid on, to hold them to the gum till they are dry and fixed: but you must be cautious lest the gum come through the feathers; for it not only smears them, but dries to the bottoms of the weights, and you will be apt to pull off the feathers with the weights, which will disorder your work: when you have wholly covered your bird with feathers, you must with a little thick gum stick on a piece of paper cut round, of the bigness and in the place of the eye, which you must colour like the eye of the bird. When the whole is dry, dress the feathers round the outline that may chance to stare a little, and rectify what may be mended in any other part: then lay a sheet of clean paper on it; and on that a heavy book, or some such thing, to press it: after which it may be preserved in a frame covered with a glass.

Birds, in heraldry, according to their several kinds, represent either the contemplative or active life. They are the emblems of liberty, expedition, readiness, swiftness, and fear. They are more honourable bearings than fishes, because they participate more of air and fire, the two noblest and highest elements, than of earth and water.—Birds must be borne in coat-armour, as is best fitting the propriety of their natural actions of going, sitting, standing, flying, &c. Birds that are either whole-footed, or have their feet divided, and yet have

Bird. have no talons, are said to be membered; but the cock, and all birds of prey with sharp and hooked beaks and talons for encounter or defence, are termed armed. In the blazoning of birds, if their wings be not displayed, they are said to be borne close; as, be beareth an eagle, &c. close.

Birds-Nests, in cookery, the nest of a small Indian swallow, very delicately tasted, and frequently mixed among soups. On the sea-coasts of China, at certain seasons of the year, there are seen vast numbers of these birds; they leave the inland country at their breeding time, and come to build in the rocks, and fashion their nests out of a matter which they find on the shore, washed thither by the waves. The nature of this substance is scarcely yet ascertained. According to Kempfer, it is mollusca or sea-worms; according to M. le Poivre, fish-spawn; according to Dalrymple, sea-weeds; and according to Linnæus, it is the animal substance frequently found on the beach, which fishermen call blubbers or jellies. The nests are of a hemispheric figure, and of the size of a goose's egg, and in substance much resemble the ichthyocolla or isnglass. The Chinese gather these nests, and sell them to all parts of the world; they dissolve in broths, &c. and make a kind of jelly of a very delicious flavour.

These nests (Mr Marsden informs us) are found in great abundance in the island of Sumatra, particularly about Croe, near the fourth end of the island. Four miles up the river of that name is a large cave, where the birds build in vast numbers. The nests are distinguished into white and black; of which the first are by far the more scarce and valuable, being found in the proportion of one only to twenty-five. "The white sort (says Mr Marsden) sells in China at the rate of 1000 to 1500 Spanish dollars the pecul; the black is usually disposed of at Batavia for about 20 dollars the same weight, where it is chiefly converted into glue, of which it makes a very superior kind. The difference between the two has by some been supposed to be owing to the mixture of the feathers of the birds with the viscous substance of which the nests are formed; and this they deduce from the experiment of steeping the black nests for a short time in hot water, when they are said to become in a great degree white. Among the natives I have heard a few assert that they are the work of a different species of bird. It was suggested to me, that the white might probably be the recent nests in which they were taken; and the black, such as had been used for a number of years successively. This opinion appearing plausible, I was particularly in my inquiries as to that point, and learned what seemed much to corroborate it. When the natives prepare to take the nests, they enter the caves with torches, and forming ladders according to the usual mode, of a single bamboo notched, they ascend and pull down the nests, which adhere in numbers together, from the side and top of the rock. They informed me, that the more frequently and regularly the cave is stripped, the greater proportion of white nests they are sure to find, and that on this experience they often make a practice of beating down and destroying the old nests in larger quantities than they trouble themselves to carry away, in order that they may find white nests the next season in their room. The birds, during the building time, are seen in large flocks on the beach,

collecting in their bills the foam which is thrown up by the surf, of which there is little doubt but they construct their nests, after it has undergone perhaps a preparation, from a commixture with their saliva, or other secretion with which nature has provided them for that purpose."