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1、PaSSaRe1TRAPPINGBIRDSTheinfinitevarietyofnetsusedinthecaptureofvariousbirdsrequiresalmostachapterbyitself;butitwillsufficeforthepresentoneifwementionthosemostgenerallyused,orthemoststrikingvarieties.First,then,comestheordinaryclap-netoftheLondonandprovincialbirdcatchers.TheEdinburghEncyclopaediasays
2、,withregardtoclap-nets:Birdsarealsotakenwithnetsduringthedayandespeciallyinthoseseasonsoftheyearwhentheychangetheirsituation;inthemonthofOctober;forinstance,whenthewildbirdsbegintofly,andinMarch,whenthesmallerkindsassembleforpairing.Theyarechieflyonthewingfromdaybreaktonoon,andalwaysflyagainstthewin
3、d.Thebirdcatchers,therefore,laytheirnetstowardsthatpointtowhichthewindblows.Thenetsemployedinthiswayaregenerally12.5yardslongand2.5yardswide,andarespreadonthegroundparalleltoeachother;insuchamannerastomeetwhenturnedover.Theyareprovidedwithlines,fastenedinsuchawaythat,byasuddenpullzthebirdcatcherisab
4、letodrawthemoverthebirdsthatmayhavealightedinthespacebetweenthoseparallelsides.Inordertoenticethewildbirdstoalightamongstthenets,callbirdsareemployed,ofwhichtheremustbeoneortwoofeachofthedifferentkindswhichareexpectedtobecaught,suchasIinnetszgoldfinches,greenfinches,etc.Besidesthecallbirdsthereareot
5、hersdenominatedcagebirds.Thecallbirdsandcagebirdsaredepositedincagesatalittledistancefromthenetszandassoonastheyseeorheartheapproachofthewildbirds,whichtheyperceivelongbeforeitcanbeobservedbythebirdcatcher;theyannouncetheintelligencefromcagetocagewiththegreatestappearanceofjoandtheyproceedtoinviteth
6、emtoalightbyasuccessionofnotesorshortjerks,astheyaretermedbythebirdcatcher;whichmayoftenbeheardataconsiderabledistance.Themomentthatthecallisheardbythewildbirdstheystoptheirflightanddescendtowardsthenet,andsogreatistheascendancyandfascinationofthecallbirdsthattheycaninducetheotherstoreturnrepeatedly
7、tothenetstilleverybirdintheflockbecaught.Beingsomewhatafraidthatthisdescriptionwouldnotmeetallthepracticalrequirementsofthecase,Iinterviewedamanofknowledge.Iaskedhimtoimparthisstockofbirdcatchingknowledge,andalsotocorrectmyroughsketcheswhennecessary.Thesumandsubstanceofmyinterviewisasfollows:Thenets
8、,whichareoftwopieces,areeachabouttwelveyardslongbytwo-and-a-halfyardswide,andaremadewithathree-quartermeshofwhatistechnicallycalledtwo-thread.Thestavesateachend,towhichthenetsarepermanentlyattached,aremadeofreddeal,ferruledandjointedatthemiddle,inthemannerofafishingrod,fortheconvenienceofcarriage.Th
9、elengthofeachwhenputtogetherisaboutfivefeetsixinches,beingthusshorterthanthewidthofthenet.Thiszitwillbereadilyobserved,allowsforthebaggingofthenetanimportantparticular;as,ifthenetswerestrainedtightwithnoallowancemadeforbagging,thebirdswouldflutteralongthegrounduntiltheygotoutatoneendortheother.Asiti
10、s,theyrollthemselvesupinthemeshes,andeffectivelyentanglethemselveswhileattemptingtoescape.Astrongline,calledthetopline,passesthewholelengthofeachnet,andisprotractedsomefeetpastthestavesateitherend.Asimilarlinerunsalongthebottommadeofthree-threadorwhipthread.Thisiscalledthebottomline.Therearethentwoc
11、ordsofsomestrengthattachedtothecentreoftheso-calledforkline,calledthepullline,which,whenrequiredforuse,canbepulledbythebirdcatcher.Eightpegsareused,madeofhardwoodzgenerallyashzfourofwhicharecalledthechiefpegs.Allofthepegsarenotched,fortheconvenienceofattachingaline.Thefirstthingtobedoneistolaydownth
12、eright-handnet,andtodriveinthetwochiefpegsatthebottomofthestaves,towhichtheyareattachedbyaloopofstrongcordzactingasahinge.Thetwoendpegsarethendriveninthegroundatsomelittledistancefromandinanexactlinetothechiefpegs.Thebottomlineisthenmadefastateachend,asalsothecontinuationofthetopline.Thetwopegs,line
13、s,andstaffthusformatriangleateachend.Theothernetisthenlaidinsuchamannerthatwhenbotharepulledoveonenetshalloverlaptheothertotheextentofsixinches.Itisthenturnedbackandpeggeddowninthesamewayastheright-handnet.Exactlyinthecentreoftheforkedlinethepulllineisknotted,attheotherendofwhichthebirdcatcherstands
14、atvaryingdistances,accordingtothebirdhewishestocatch;forinstance,forlinnetsorgoldfinches,thirtytofortyyards;forstarlingsagreaterdistanceisrequired;ortocapturethesewarybirdsabetterplanistoplacethenetsinonefieldwhileyouretireintoanother;bringingthepulllinethroughaninterveninghedge.Cagescontainingbirds
15、aredispersedaboutontheouteredgesofthenets;infact,myinformantthinksthatifallthecageswereplacedagreaterdistanceawayfromthenetsitwouldbebetter;ashehasfoundthattheusualredorgreencageshavebeenthemeansofbashing,-.e.zfrighteningthewildbirdsawayfromthenets.Source:TheProjectGutenbergEBookofPracticalTbxidermy
16、7byMontaguBrowneQuestions1-5Choosethecorrectletter,A,B,CorD.1. TheclapnetisA. theonlytypeofnetusedinbirdcatching.B. exclusivelyusedincities.C. themostcommonlyusedtypeofbirdcatchingnet.D. usedtocatchonlyonetypeofbird.2. Whencatchingbirdsthataremigrating,itisimportanttonotethatthebirdsA. areintheairfromdawnuntildusk.B. consistentlyflyintheoppositedirectiontothewindcurrent.C. usuallyflytothewest.D. typicallygointhesamedirectionasthewind
