Cassell's book of birds; vol. 3Brehm, Alfred Edmund
Science
Cassell's book of birds; vol. 3
Brehm, Alfred Edmund
Birds
The war against these Grouse is carried on in various ways. Some are shot
on their breeding-places, others killed with sticks, or caught in nets and
snares. "I observed," says Audubon, "that for several nights in succession
many of these Grouse slept in a meadow not far distant from my house. This
piece of ground was thickly covered with tall grass, and one dark night I
thought of amusing myself by trying to catch them. I had a large seine,
and took with me several negroes supplied with lanterns and long poles,
with the latter of which they bore the net completely off the ground. We
entered the meadow in the early part of the night, although it was so dark
that without a light, one could hardly have seen an object a yard distant,
and spreading out the leaded end of the net, carried the other end forward
by means of the poles, at the height of a few feet. I had marked before
dark a place in which a great number of the birds had alighted, and now
ordered my men to proceed towards it. As the net passed over the first
Grouse in the way, the alarmed bird flew directly towards the confining
part of the angle, and almost at the same moment a great number of others
arose, and, with much noise, followed the same direction. At a signal, the
poles were laid flat on the ground, and we secured the prisoners, bagging
some dozens. Repeating our experiment three times in succession, we met
with equal success; but now we gave up the sport on account of the loud
bursts of laughter from the negroes, who could no longer refrain. Leaving
the net on the ground, we returned to the house laden with spoil, although
I am confident that several hundreds had escaped."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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