[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sm,—Not very long ago
I came upon a tawny owl hanging head downward from a circular spring trap which had' been set in an open space in the midst of a wood. The trap was fixed upon the top of a large pyramidal wire cage, with a truncated apex, standing upon the ground ; and within it was a terrified hedge-sparrow, used as bait, running about more in the manner of a mouse than a bird. The owl was dead, and the flesh of both its thighs had been cruelly lacerated by the teeth of the trap in its first struggles to escape from intense pain.
The trap was virtually a pole-trap, long since prohibited by law ; but the wood was strictly preserved for game, and I give this as an instance that goes to prove that the only method of preventing the secret use of these barbarous instruments is to make the sale of them illegat—I am,
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