4 STRA Y FEA THERS FROM MANY BIRDS 



wonderfully easy to approach if stalked in the proper 

 manner. 



Rooks are among the wariest of birds, yet you may 

 wander within gunshot of them so long as you profess 

 indifference ; it is when you seek to approach them in a 

 cautious, suspicious manner, or stop suddenly to look, 

 that they become alarmed. You must see all you wish 

 and make whatever observation you desire whilst 

 sauntering carelessly past them. Some birds are perhaps 

 easiest to approach when singing, and will often let you 

 pass below the trees in which they sit ; but if you pause 

 for a moment the song usually ceases at once, and the 

 musician retires to more secluded quarters. You must 

 always remember that birds and beasts are gifted with 

 much keener powers of sight and hearing than those you 

 possess, and have most probably observed you long 

 before you have spied them, consequently they are on 

 the alert for the least suspicious movement a pause in 

 your progress or a sudden alteration in your route is 

 enough to give alarm. 



A fruitful mode of observation is to take up a position 

 where you are well concealed among the underwood, 

 and wait for any birds or animals to visit the neighbour- 

 hood of your hiding-place. Many a time have I had the 

 Blackbirds and the Thrushes feeding almost at my feet, 

 and the rabbits shyly nibbling the herbage not half-a- 

 dozen paces from where I stood. What cameos of wild 



