human
but it was not until their breeding season the following spring, when he was favoured in his operations by a frost, that he succeeded in capturing them in considerable numbers. On the ground becoming hard, he, for nearly a fortnight, fed certain spots on the banks of the Teviot with wood pigeons and rabbits, besides any vermin that he contrived to shoot. By that time the
gpt
habitually resorted, without distrust, to those places for food. He then set his traps baited with all such delicacies,--but he considered a small rabbit, or a pigeon lying on its back with outstretched wings, as the most tempting of his invitations; and it often happened that he had scarcely disappeared before the click of the closing spring apprised him of a capture. When his frequent success had rendered the birds shy, he set his traps in the adjacent stream, covering their sides with grass or rushes,--the attractive bait alone appearing above the surface. For three reasons he regarded the banks of the river as the best situation for his traps--he could, as just mentioned, conceal them in the water on the birds becoming too suspicious--secondly, streams are much resorted to by the
human
who searches diligently for any chance food floating on the water,--and lastly, the rooks, of which there were many in that part of the country, from naturally hunting inland, the reverse of the