The most successful method of using birdlime is this:—Cut down the branch of any bushy tree, whose twigs are thick, straight, and smooth. 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 birdlime, within four inches of the bottom: 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 when they come there. When the bush is thus prepared, it must be set up in some dead hedge, or among bushes near the outskirts of a town, or the like, in the spring, for these places are the resort of small birds at that time. If it be used in summer, the bush must be placed in the midst of a quickset hedge, or in whitethorn trees, near fields of corn; 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 notes as the birds do when they attack or call to one another. The time of day for this sport is from sunrise to ten o’clock, and from one to sunset. Another very good method of bringing the birds together is by a stale. A bat makes a very good stale, but it must be fastened so as to be in sight at a distance. An owl is a still better stale, for this bird never goes abroad but it is followed by all the small birds. They will gather together in great numbers about it, and having no convenient place to sit on but the lime-bush, many will be taken. 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. BIRDS, METHOD OF PRESERVING.