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against the provisions of the Act, from whom any implements used by anglers shall be taken, or by whom the same shall be delivered up as aforesaid, shall by the taking or delivery thereof be exempted from the payment of any damages or penalty for such angling.

By another Act passed in the 7 & 8 George IV., it is provided, that "if any person shall maliciously in any way destroy the dam of a fishpond or other water, being private property, with intent to take or destroy any of the fish in the same; or shall maliciously put any noxious material in any such pond or water with intent to destroy the fish therein, such offender shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and be punished accordingly."

The provisions of these Acts do not extend to Scotland and Ireland.

HINTS FOR ANGLERS.

It is generally understood that when two or three persons are angling in the same stream, there shall be a distance of thirty yards between them.

If the learner wishes to become a complete angler, he must use fine tackle, as the skill and care which such tackle requires will soon make him a master of the art.

When the tackle breaks, the angler must not mourn over the accident, but do his best to remedy it, by speedily repairing the damage, and resuming his sport.

The angler must wear strong boots or shoes, and keep his feet dry, unless he wishes to become an interesting invalid.

And if he values his health, he will abstain from drinking water out of rivers or ponds when he is in a perspiration, or feels parched with thirst.

If the weather is very cold, or the wind sets very strongly from the north or east, the angler will meet with but little sport. Heavy showers of rain or hail, and thunderstorms, are likewise extremely prejudicial to his amusement; and as in the winter months few opportunities are afforded for the exercise of his talents out of doors, he should, while snugly screened from the pinching blasts, attend to all the little repairs which may be necessary to his various appurtenances.

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THE Sweetest music of Nature is the singing of those little angels of the trees-the birds. It gladdens the heart to hear their "wood notes wild" ringing through those great cathedrals the woods, whose tall green pillars are reared by the wonder-working hand of God. Their song seems to make the sunshine brighter; and we have often fancied we could see the golden rays darting, and flashing, and keeping time to their warblings. No doubt when long-haired Eve wandered through Eden, and Adam wove for her a bower of blushing roses, that the birds sang the self-same tunes which they do now, and that the angels often listened to them when they "walked in the garden in the cool of the day." ""* In all ages, in all countries, as far back as we have any records of time, the singing of birds has given delight to mankind; and they must many a time have gladdened the heart of Noah and his family when he sailed over the wide waste of waters in the ark; and the children that were with him would listen and recal the green nestling places, then deep down beneath the waves, where the sweet-voiced birds built and sang.

Everything about a singing bird is beautiful; the very nest it builds, the eggs it lays, are all objects of beauty. As for their songs, they seem sent to gladden the hearts of mankind, as the flowers delight the eyes of the beholders. Even the cheerful trills of the little captives when caged in their wired prisons in some dingy apartment

"They heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day."-Genesis iii. 8.

in a city, are often the source of unmingled pleasure to the plodding money-getting citizen; and the poor weaver, though plunged in the utmost depths of penury, feels pleasure, whilst plying the busy loom, in teaching bulfinches to warble national airs, and in training goldfinches to perform their interesting little tricks. The humble peasant also finds amusement in teaching his starling to talk while hanging in its wicker cage upon 66 the woodbine arbour," and often a country cobbler may be seen sitting near the window of his snug roadside cottage, progressing cheerily with his work, and ever and anon pausing to listen with rapture and pride of heart to his blackbird piping some heart-cheering ditty or plaintive love-song which he has taught it.

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Boys residing in London, or any large town, may always procure good, healthy birds, of strong musical powers, by applying to respectable bird-fanciers; whilst those who live in the country must either take the young from their nests and rear them, or use various contrivances in which to ensnare them; and there are, perhaps, few things which afford such an inexhaustible fund of amusement to country lads as bird-catching. In the budding days of spring, the sunny hours of summer, the sombre autumn, and the chill, piercing days of winter, they may set their cunningly-contrived nets and exert their skill in the construction of traps, the making of which will find them employment on winter nights by the fireside.

The common BRICK TRAP employed by the veriest children in bird trapping, is made of four bricks and a tile: two of the bricks are placed lengthways, parallel with each other, and the others are put at the ends; the tile acting as a cover, and to support it, a stump is driven into the ground, as represented at A, in the annexed engraving; upon this stump, one end of a forked twig B, is rested, and the other end is jutted close to the cross brick; on this forked twig, a short straight bit of stick C, is placed, and fragile as the support seems, the whole

weight of the tile D, bears upon it. At the bottom and around the trap some seed should be scattered, and the apparatus is then complete. The instant a bird, attracted by the seed, alights on the forked twig, it jerks up, and of course displaces the slender prop of the tile, which instantly falls and encloses the little adventurer. This trap may be made of four bricks only, one brick being used instead of the tile, and so placed, that when it falls it will rest on the edge of the brick marked B, so as not to crush the bird.

The SIEVE - TRAP only requires a sieve, a piece of stick and a string, as shown in the engraving. When the ground is covered with snow, a space about the size of the sieve should be cleared, and some ashes sprinkled on the spot, then a few crumbs of bread, or red berries scattered on the ashes. The sieve should be propped up, over the clear space, by a bit of stick; and to the middle of the prop, a piece of fine twine, of sufficient length to reach the window or hiding-place, must be fastened; at the place of concealment the contriver takes his station to watch all the comers, and the instant he sees any birds settle beneath it, to enjoy the banquet spread before them, he jerks the string, the sieve falls, and those which are unfortunate enough to be under, are immediately trapped. You must then take a cloth or apron and draw it cautiously under the sieve, taking care not to elevate the sieve so as to allow the birds to escape, raise the ends of the cloth to the centre, and carry your prizes into the house.

HORSE-HAIR NOOSES, employed in the winter for catching larks, are thus made and set: when the ground is covered with snow, take about a hundred yards of packthread, and at every six inches fasten a noose composed of two horsehairs twisted together, with a loop which will draw tight when the bird drags at it. When you set them, thrust little pegs into the earth every twenty yards, and fasten the packthread to them, so as to keep the nooses at about the height of a lark when running. Scatter a quantity of white oats on the snow, from one end of the line to the other; and when the birds haste to partake of the food, they will speedily get entangled in the nooses, from which, of course, they must be immediately taken out.

The SPRINGLE, which is rather a complicated affair, is one of the most efficient traps in use, and is constructed in the following manner:-Get a hazle switch of four feet in length, and to the taper end of it tie a piece of string of about fifteen inches in length, and near the end of this string fasten a catch or little piece of wood of half an inch in length, a quarter of an inch in breadth, and the eighth of an inch in thickness; and this piece of wood must be slightly bevelled off at one end, so as to adapt it to a notch in the "spreader." A very loose slip-knot must next be fastened to the end of the spring, below the catch, and then the spring part of the machine is complete, as shown at Fig. 1 in the illustration. The

"spreader" is the next thing to be made, and for it a little switch of about eighteen inches in length is requisite; the small end of it must be bent back, and fastened to within an inch or thereabouts of the thicker end, so as to form a loop as in Fig. 2, and at the latter end a notch must be cut for the purpose of receiving the catch before mentioned. A "stump,' Fig. 3, and a "bender," or pliant bit of switch, Fig. 4, each about eighteen inches

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in length, complete the springle. The method of setting it is the following: -Drive the stump, Fig. 3, into the ground, put the loop of the spreader over it, as Fig. 2, and at about the length of the spreader from the stump, thrust the ends of the bender firmly into the ground, as Fig. 4; then put the thick end of the springer into the ground at a little distance from the bender, as in Fig. 1, and bend it down until you can place one end of the catch upwards, on the outside of the bender, and then raise the spreader about an inch from the ground, and put the smaller end of the catch in the notch, by which arrangement the spreader will be held in its proper position, and the springer prevented from jerking up without some cause. Arrange the horse-hair slip-knot loosely round the spreader and stump,

and scatter some seed inside it, and also sparingly outside, and for a little space around, to attract the birds to the more plentiful supply within the spreader; and the springle is then completely prepared, as

shown in the illustration. Its action is very simple, being as fo lows:-When a bird, attracted by the seed, perches upon the spreader, it falls with his weight, the catch is instantly freed, and in consequence, the springer flies up, ensnaring the poor bird in the slip-knot, either by the legs, neck, wings, or body. If the trappist wishes to take the birds alive, he must keep watch and ward within sight of the trap, so that as soon as one is imprisoned, he may run and take it out, else the poor bird will either strangle or beat itself to pieces in its vain endeavours to escape.

The CLAP NET is used for taking larks and other small birds, and the method is styled daring or doring. As the construction of this species of net is much too complex for our readers to attempt manufacturing any for themselves, and the sport being somewhat difficult, and only followed by men who make a living by bird-catching, we shall pass it over.

The NIGHTINGALE TRAP is of an oblong shape, about four inches in depth, with a perch or stick to support the top, which is so placed as to fall and secure the bird the instant he hops in to get at the bait.

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