The game is named after the bird or witch that appeared on the highest or lowest cards respectively.

[2][3] In Austria, the name Hexenspiel was mostly used; the Bavarians and Upper Austrians called it Vogelspiel.

[4][5] Smith (1991) states that while the ranking of the cards is consistent and clear from leaflets dating to the late 18th century and early 19th century, the actual rules of play are not very explicit, but may have been similar to those of Cuccù with the exception that the player with the lowest card was only penalised if either no-one has been penalised during play or if the person so penalised was unable to pay the full penalty.

[3] A description by Karl Adrian (1909) in a book on Salzburg's culture and customs gives much simpler rules.

The lives were recorded as lines (Striche), probably on a slate, and a stroke was erased each time a life was lost.

[4] There is a set of rules accompanying an 18th century Austrian pack of "Vogelspiel" cards by Johan Georg Pichler in the British Museum.

[6] In Pichler's account of Vogelspiel each player receives 6 or 7 "little lines" (Strichel), presumably marked on a slate, scoresheet or the table.

A player with any of the matadors must not exchange it (on penalty of losing a life), but follows the instruction or says the word at the top of the card.