hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

tactics, a cocking-cloth was a device used for catching

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family (biology), family Phasianidae in the order (biology), order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera na ...

s, similar in construction to a

kite A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. ...

. It consists of a piece of coarse

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbags ...

, about an ell square, or 45 inches (114 cm) on side, tanned, and kept stretched by two sticks, placed from corner to corner, diagonal-wise; a hole is left to see through. The hunter, then, armed with a short gun, carries the cloth before him at arm's length; under cover of which, he may approach his game as near as he pleases. When near enough, he puts the barrel of the gun through the hole, and fires.

Richard Blome Richard Blome (1635-1705) was an engraver, cartographer, and publisher in the Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various History of A ...

, in ''The Gentleman's Recreation'' (1686), called this technique "cocking-cloth at crowing time." According to him, at "crowing time", the pheasants "will let you come near them, and the ''cocks'' will be so bold as to fly at he cocking-cloth"

References

* *Blackmore, Howard L. ''Hunting Weapons''. Courier Dover Publications. {{ISBN, 0-486-40961-9. 2000. p 234. *"Cocking". ''Oxford English Dictionary''. Oxford University Press. 2nd ed. 1989. Bird hunting