A SIMPLER NET TRAP.

[Illustration]

Much ingenuity has been displayed in the construction of bird traps of various kinds, but often the ingenuity has been misplaced, and the result has been so complicated as to mar its usefulness for practical purposes.  The examples of net traps presented in this volume are so simple that the merest tyro can readily understand them.  What can be more so than the present example, and yet it is as sure in its effect, and surer than those other varieties of more complicated construction.  One necessary element in a trap of any kind is, that the bearings are slight and that they spring easily.  To obtain this requisite it is necessary to overcome friction as much as possible, using only a small number of pieces, and having as few joints and hinges only as are absolutely necessary.  The present variety possesses advantages on this account.  It is constructed somewhat on the principle of the ordinary steel trap, and also resembles in other respects the one we have just described, although much simpler.  We give only a section drawing, as this will be sufficient.  The long side of a flat board of about eight by sixteen inches is shown at (a); (b) indicates the loops of a bent wire, to which the netting is attached, as in the trap just described, [Page 84] the loops being fastened to the board as in the other variety; (g) consists of a small bit of wood an inch or so in length and half an inch in width.  It should be tacked on to the middle of the one end of the board and project about a half inch above the surface.  To the top of this the spindle (c) should be attached by a leather or staple hinge.  The spindle should be of light pine, five inches in length and a quarter of an inch square, bevelled; on the under side of one end (d) is the catch or bait piece, and should be whittled out of a shingle or pine stick of the shape shown, the width being about a half an inch or less.  One side should be supplied with a slight notch for the reception of the spindle, and the other should project out two or three inches, being covered on the top with a little platform of pasteboard, tin, or thin wood either glued or tacked in place.  To attach this piece to the main board, two small wire staples may be used, one being inserted into the bottom end of the piece and the other being hooked through it, and afterward tacked to the bottom of the trap, thus forming a loop hinge.  Another method is to make a hole through the lower tip of the bait piece by the aid of a red-hot wire, as seen at (d), afterwards inserting a pin and overlapping its ends with two staples driven into the bottom board, as shown at (e).  In our last mentioned net trap the spring power consisted of rubber elastic, and the same may be used in this case, if desired, but by way of variety we here introduce another form of spring which may be successfully employed