APPROACHING BIRDS. 31 



approach is in direct ratio to the size of the bird ; it is perhaps 

 because large, conspicuous birds are objects of more general 

 pursuit than the little ones you ordinarily search for. The 

 qualities that birds possess for self-preservation may be called 

 wariness in large birds, shyness in small ones. The former 

 make off knowingly from a suspicious object ; the latter fly 

 from anything that is strange to them, be it dangerous or not. 

 This is strikingly illustrated in the behavior of small birds in 

 the wilderness, as contrasted with their actions about towns ; 

 singular as it may seem they are more timid under the former 

 circumstances than when grown accustomed to the presence of 

 man. It is just the reverse with a hawk or raven, for instance ; 

 in populous districts they spend much of their time in trying 

 to save their skins, while in a new country they have not learned, 

 like Indians, that a white man is "mighty uncertain." In 

 stealing on a shy bird, you will of course take advantage of 

 any cover that may offer, as inequalities of the ground, thick 

 bushes, the trunks of trees ; and it is often worth while to make 

 a considerable detour to secure unobserved approach. I think 

 that birds are more likely, as a rule, to be frightened away by 

 the movements of the collector, than by his simple presence, 

 however near, and that they are more afraid of noise than of 

 mere motion. Crackling of twigs and rustling of leaves are 

 sharp sounds, though not loud ones ; you may have sometimes 

 been surprised to find how distinctly you could hear the move- 

 ments of a horse or cow in underbrush at some distance. 

 Birds have sharp ears for such sounds. Form a habit of 

 stealthy movement ; it tells, in the long run, in comparison with 

 lumbering tread. There are no special precautions to be taken 

 in shooting through high open forest ; you have onty to saunter 

 along with your eyes in the tree-tops. It is ordinarily the easiest 

 and on the whole the most remunerative path of the collector. 

 In traversing fields and meadows move briskly, your principal 

 object being to flush birds out of the grass ; and as most, of 

 j^our shots will be snap ones, keep in readiness for instant 

 action. Excellent and varied shooting is to be had along hedge 

 rows, and in the rank herbage that fringes fences. It is best 



