I have frequently taken jays in small snares similar to those used in capturing rabbits. Quail and ruffed grouse were also taken in this manner before the present time, but it is now illegal to trap game-birds in nearly all the States.
The steel trap of the smallest size is exceedingly useful in capturing hawks, owls, and even eagles, as well as many other large birds. One way is to set it in the nest of the bird, first taking care to remove the eggs, substituting for them those of a hen. Almost all large birds may be taken in this manner, and it is an excellent way to identify the eggs in case of some rare hawks or herons. The topmost portion of some dead stub, which is a favorite roost of a hawk or eagle, is a good place to set a trap; and small hawks and owls may be captured by putting the trap on the top of a stake, some eight or ten feet high, in a meadow, especially if there are no fences near. Hawks and owls haunt meadows in search of mice, and invariably light upon a solitary stake, if they can find one, in order to eat their prey or to rest, and thus are very apt to put their “foot into it,” in a manner decidedly agreeable to the collector, if not so pleasing to themselves. Steel-traps may also be set on boards nailed to trees, in the woods or on hill-tops, but they should in this case be baited with a small mammal or bird. I have succeeded in capturing marsh hawks by tying a living mouse to a steel-trap, and placing it in a meadow which was frequented by these birds. Other hawks and also eagles may be captured by using decoys; the best thing for this purpose being, strangely enough, a live great horned owl. The owl is fastened to a stout stake in an open field or meadow during the migration of hawks, in the spring or fall, and surrounded by baited traps. The hawks passing over are attracted by the novel spectacle of an owl in such a peculiar position and come swooping down for a nearer view, when they perceive the bait, and in trying to eat it are caught. A hawk or eagle may be used in this way as a decoy, but the great horned owl is by far the best.
In using steel traps, care should be taken to wrap the jaws with cloth, so as to prevent injury to the legs of the bird captured. Vultures may be taken in steel traps by simply baiting them with any kind of flesh. Many species of birds may be successfully captured by one or another of the methods given. In fact, we are in constant receipt of trapped birds during the proper seasons, and thus many hawks and owls which would have been difficult to procure are taken in numbers by our collectors.
Bird-lime, although scarcely advisable when the birds are intended to be preserved, may be used to advantage in capturing birds for the cage. A small quantity of it is spread on a twig or small stick, one end of which is lightly stuck in a notch on some upright branch or stem, in such a position that the bird must alight on it in order to reach the bait. The stick should be poised so lightly that the slightest touch of the bird’s feet will cause it to drop, when the bird, giving a downward stroke with its wings to save itself from falling, will strike the outer quills against the stick, and thus both feet and wings become fastened to it by the adhering lime. In case of a rare specimen, the lime may be removed from the plumage by the aid of alcohol, or the bird will remove it in time, if permitted to live. Good bird-lime is difficult to procure; that made from linseed-oil and tar, boiled down, is the best; but this process must be carried on in the open air, as the mixture is exceedingly inflammable. The sticky mass thus obtained must be worked with the hands under water, until it assumes the proper consistency. In spreading lime on the sticks, the fingers should be wet to prevent the lime sticking to them. Another way in which I have taken such unsuspicious birds as pine grosbeaks, cross-bills and red-polls, is by placing a noose of fine wire on the end of a pole, and by approaching a tree cautiously, in which the birds were feeding, have managed to slip it over their heads, when they are drawn fluttering downward, and the noose removed, before any permanent injury is done. I have even taken pine grosbeaks in an open field in this manner, and have ascended a tree and captured them with only the noose attached to a stout piece of wire, in my hand.
Section II.: Shooting.—Although, as shown, many valuable species may be secured by trapping, snaring, etc., yet the collector relies mainly on his gun. This much being decided, it at once occurs to the beginner, What kind of a weapon shall I get? Of course, muzzle-loaders are now out of the question; and among the multitudes of breech-loaders in the market, one has only to consult his taste or the length of his purse. Therefore it is simply useless for me to recommend any particular make of gun. Good single-barrel breech-loaders can be bought for from nine dollars to twenty dollars, while double-barrels cost from fifteen dollars upward. For ordinary collecting, a twelve-gauge is perhaps better than any other, as such birds as ducks, hawks and crows can be readily killed with it. For warblers, wrens, and other small birds, however, a much smaller gauge gun is almost indispensable, as a large gun sends the shot with such force that it not only penetrates the body of the bird, but also goes out on the opposite side; thus each shot makes two holes, when one is all that is necessary to kill. This fact should then always be kept in mind, and as a rule load lightly, with just enough powder to cause the shot to penetrate well into the bird without going through it. In a twelve-gauge gun, two drachms of powder behind an ounce of shot is sufficient to kill a bird like a jay or golden-winged woodpecker, at a distance of thirty or forty yards; then if more penetration is necessary, more powder may be used with the same quantity of shot, but this will cause the shot to scatter more. A good collecting gun, one which will kill small birds with a very small amount of ammunition and little noise, has long been a desideratum. I have tried many kinds, but nothing has proved so satisfactory as a small repeating gun of my own invention, and which is manufactured by us. This gun consists of two brass tubes, a smaller one within a larger, with an air space between, thus greatly deadening the sound; and both are securely fastened to a finely nickel-plated five-shot revolver. We make two sizes, a twenty-two gauge, the report of which is very slight, and a thirty-two gauge, which makes a little louder noise. The former will kill warblers at fifteen yards, and the latter at twenty yards, while birds like jays, thrushes, and robins, may be brought down with the thirty-two gauge at a distance of ten yards. This gun served me well in Florida last winter, and I killed at least two-thirds of the birds that I collected there with it. The light report of such a gun does not frighten the birds, while the fact that one nearly always has a second shot ready in the revolving cylinder, is a great help, in case of a wounded bird, or in the sudden appearance of a second specimen, as so often happens, after the first has fallen. The price of this gun varies from four dollars and fifty cents to five dollars and seventy-five cents, according to quality and size. Blow-guns, air-guns, catapults, etc., are useful only in cases when a shot-gun cannot be used, as they cannot be depended upon. A collector, in order to procure birds with a certainty, requires a good shot-gun. The ammunition used in the small collecting gun is copper shells, primed, of three lengths for each size. For shot, I use dust numbers ten and eight, but for a larger gun, coarser shot is sometimes necessary; collectors, however,—especially beginners,—are apt to use too large shot. On the contrary, I do not like to shoot too fine shot at large birds; thus a hawk killed with a heavy charge of dust-shot at twenty yards would have the feathers cut up very badly, whereas a warbler shot at the same distance would be likely to make a good specimen, as it would only receive a few pellets of shot, whereas a large number would strike the hawk. As a rule, then, use dust-shot for birds up to the size of a cedar-bird, then number ten to the size of a jay, after which number eight will kill better and cleaner, and I should use this size as long as it will bring down the birds; and it is surprising to see how large species may be killed with it. I have taken brown pelicans, wild geese, and large hawks with number eight, and I once secured a frigate-bird with it, all at good distances. For very large birds like cranes, white pelicans, or eagles I have used a rifle very successfully. A thirty-two gauge Allen is my favorite gun, and I have killed birds at all distances from twenty to three hundred and twenty-five yards with it. Of course, nearly all successful rifle shots must be made at sitting birds, as I have met with but few who could bring them down when flying. Another good method of securing large shy birds which go in flocks, is to load with buckshot, putting a stiff charge of powder, say three to five drachms, behind it, then fire into the flock from a distance, elevating the gun at an angle of some forty-five degrees above the birds. I have killed both species of pelicans at two hundred yards distant in this way.
Section III.: Procuring Birds.—Birds are to be found nearly everywhere, in fact, there is scarcely a square acre of land on the face of the earth which is not inhabited, at one season or another, by some species, and many are found on the beaches, and on the ocean itself. Following are some of the localities in which our American species are to be found; and, presumably, foreign birds of the same families will occur in similar places.
Turdidæ: Thrushes.—Of these, the robin is the most common and is found everywhere. Next among the true thrushes are the olive-backed, hermit, and allied species. These occur usually in woodlands, and are rather shy, keeping at a distance. The wood thrush inhabits deeply-wooded glens. The mocking thrushes prefer thickets in the neighborhood of dwellings,—for example, the cat-bird. The brown thrush also inhabits thickets, but are not, as a rule, fond of the society of man, while the smaller thrushes, of which the golden-crowned is an example, prefer the woodlands; and the two water thrushes are found in swampy localities.
Saxicolidæ: Stone-chats.—The blue-birds are often sociable, building in orchards and farmyards, while the western species appear to prefer mountain cliffs as breeding-places. The rare stone-chat is, I think, found in open sections where it occurs at all.