Stool pigeon

I used to really like the song stool pigeon by Kid Creole and the coconuts. I had no idea what it meant but it had a good tune and easy to sing along to.
Apparently stool pigeon can mean a decoy bird, a police informant or a criminals look out or decoy.

The word stool may have come from Stoale meaning a tree stump where a decoy pigeon would be placed to attract birds or from the French word 'estale' where a pigeon was used to attract hawks into a net.

It was probably a saying used verbally as it was nt seen inprint until the 19th century although this time used in the sense of a criminal attracting others into his evil ways.

In 1871 it was listed in the 'Americanisms ;the English of the new world ;

Stool pigeon ...it means the pigeon ,with its eyes
stitched up , fastened on a stool, which can be
moved up and down by the hidden Fowler'

We have seen wildfowlers on the mudflats in Munlochy bay. They are probably members of the local wildfowling group who shoot duck or goose during the season. They also provide pest control by controlling the wood pigeons on the local farms before they destroy the spring crops. I have nt seen any decoys although the ones now a days are much more realistic.
There is a sign at Redcastle that always makes me look twice as it says ' No wildfowlers beyond this point, or something similar, I always think it says No wildflowers which would be a disappointment !