Pre-Buddhist India: A Political, Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey of Ancient India Based Mainly on the Jataka Stories c5.161

c5.161

thus cries out a captured bird.¹ In either case the fowler got his living.² These fowlers were sometimes numerous enough to have a village all to themselves as we have seen.³ They caught the birds with snares and traps. The snare, made usually of stout horse-hair (*vālapāsa*) and fixed to a stick (*yaṭṭhi*) was strewn on the ground. As soon as the birds descended on the ground they were caught fast into it.⁴ Sometimes they used a decoy-bird (*dīpakakāra* or *tittira*) which, by its cry, gathered its kinsfolk,⁵ or they themselves imitated the note of a bird to gather its kind together, and when the birds were drawn together, they flung the net over them, and whipped the sides of the net together so as to get them all huddled up in a heap. Then they crammed them into their basket and carried them away.⁶ Thus they sold them away, sometimes fattening them before sale.⁷ Among the birds thus sought after, were parrots and peacocks (for pets) and quails, partridges and ospreys.⁸ Beautiful feathers of the mallards were sold and brought a nice sum.⁹