A NEW WAY TO POACH PHEASANTS.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2662, 2 June 1908, Page 2

A NEW WAY TO POACH PHEASANTS.

. Though the Maori of Xew Zealand does not. like his •European colnpeer, sacrifice health and happiness in tho mad rush after wealth, he possesses an inventive faculty in those everyday problems with which he is confronted, which would take the wind out of the sails of many a learned professor. Our proverb, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.*' is utter nonsense to the man who has a perfect knowledge of bush life and bird lore. Show him the bird, and if he really wants it he will get it. It would not be an easy task for the average white man to devise a trap, which, while it infallibly catches the cock pheasant, always allows the hen to escape. The Maori had to solve this riddle, and he did it effectively. He was only allowed to purchase one pound of powder, and lOlbs. of shot in each year, so shooting on the wing was out of the question. Pheasants were, thick in the locality, and he wished them to remain so, so far as the hens werr concerned, for he had no wish to kill the goose which laid the golden eggs. On the other hand, not only were the cock birds fair game and good eating, but a considerable diminution in their number would presage an increased hatch of succulent ehictotis in the future. So he dug a small, open trench a few feet in length, and joined two narrower trenches on to it. The last of these he roof?d over with brushwood. Then he sprinkled Indian corn, sparingly at first, but more thickly as the trench Ivvame narrower, and left a goodly hatful or two piled up at the far end. The hen pheasant-walked in, ate her fll. and either backed out, or turned round, and made her exit in safety. With the cock, however, it was different. Once in the narrow space he could eat away comfortably enough, but for him to escape was impossible. If he tried to back, his head stuck against the roof find prevented him, while the same handsome ornament effectually stopped him from turning round in the narrow passage, nn<] there he remained, waiting his captor's convenience.