16 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



clad in their gayest attire and uttering their sweetest notes, is a 

 constant source of delight. In summer the nests and eggs engage 

 the attention for a time. In autumn the return of the birds seen 

 passing north in the spring is again looked for with interest, and 

 the changes in the dress of many are carefully recorded in the note- 

 book which should be always at hand. But winter, after all, is the 

 season in which we expect to find the rarest of our birds. We say 

 0U7' birds, for those we look for at that season are Canadian in the 

 fullest sense of the term, having been born and brought up in the 

 Dominion, but only on very rare occasions do they come so far south 

 as our southern boundary. The collector in Southern Ontario who is 

 fortunate enough to secure such birds as the Gyrfalcon, Ptarmigan, 

 Three-toed Woodpecker, or Greater Red Poll, will not soon forget his 

 agreeable sensations on the occasion, but he will gaze on the interest- 

 ing strangers with regret if he does not know how to preserve their 

 skins. It was probably some such experience that first suggested the 

 attainment of this accomplishment, and in order to place it within 

 the reach of all, I shall here give a brief account of how anyone 

 may, with a little practice, become proficient in the art. 



Since bird collecting can be successfully practised only by the use 

 of the gun, let me here, for the guidance of beginners, repeat the 

 directions so often given to guard against accidents in its use. The 

 excuse for three-fourths of the mishaps which occur is, " Didn't know 

 it was loaded," but the safe way to avoid this is at all times to handle 

 the gun*is if it were known to be loaded, for in the Irishman's way 

 of putting it, " It may go off, whether it's loaded or not." When in 

 company with others, never under any cii'cumstances allow the gun 

 for an instant to be pointed toward anything you do not wish to 

 shoot. Never for any purpose blow into the muzzle, and do not have 

 it "on cock " till the moment you expect to use it. 



With regard to the choice of a gun, I am supposed to be speaking 

 to a reader who has made up his mind to make a collection of the 

 skins of those birds he finds near his home in Ontario. Water-fowl 

 shooting, I may here remark, is a special department by itself. A 

 12-bore double breech-loader, and cartridges charged with No. 5 shot, 

 with a few of No. 1 or BB, would be a suitable equipment for ducks, 

 with the possibility of a chance shot at geese or swans. 



The collector going into the country may unexpectedly meet with 

 some very desirable bird, and should be prepared to take it, whatever 

 be its size or shape, and to do so with the least possible injury to its 

 plumage. 



