PREFACE Vil 
side of the fire, a low table beside him, holding paper, ref- 
erence books, and the indispensable tin of “John Cotton,” 
while snowstorms might rage without, in imagination he 
was able to roam with the bison or musk-ox on the sunny 
plains, to climb the peaks with the mountain goat, or to 
hear the songs of birds in sanctuaries made safe by his ef- 
fort. The facts and conclusions herein contained were 
gathered and matured throughout days of action, research, 
and travel, when he followed the pressing needs of the 
country, and attacked problems as they presented them- 
selves, never resting until they were solved, and then, un- 
satisfied, merely using success as a stimulant to greater 
effort. 
Pages could be written of his work in preparing and in 
drafting what is now known as the Northwest Game Act, 
and, after the bill was introduced in Parliament, of his 
watchful support of the measure until all opposition was 
overcome and it became law. The Migratory Birds Treaty 
also tested his powers; international and interprovincial 
arrangements and compromises had to be made, and the 
successful completion of this important treaty bears wit- 
ness to his courage and diplomacy. During these and 
other less important negotiations, he would travel many 
miles for a single interview; he was thankful when the cause, 
supported and enforced by his persuasive powers, won the 
day, and he was willing to try again when they failed. 
How rarely they failed! The appeal of his winning person- 
ality and his earnest desire to help usually carried convic- 
tion. 
As an example of his sincerity, and of his willingness to 
carry out whatever he asked others to do, before publicly 
advocating individual and community effort in wild life 
conservation, he hung nesting-boxes in the trees, and sup- 
plied an original water bath in his own garden. Little 
homes for bumble-bees were carefully tucked under the 
