CONCEALMENT. 81 



later. Often, owing to the meagreness of the 

 hide there will only be one position possible, and 

 then it is worth while making this as comfortable 

 as we can. When first assumed nearly any 

 position seems fairly comfortable, and it is only 

 after a time that an ill-chosen one makes itself 

 felt, and no one who has not experienced it can 

 believe how much pain can accrue from cramped 

 and strained muscles. At times the tent will be 

 touching one's body at several points, and then 

 the slightest movement will set the whole thing 

 shaking enough to scare a bird away for hours, 

 and even when the interior is more roomy one 

 cannot be too careful, and if there is height enough 

 to permit of a low camp-stool it is well worth try- 

 ing. There is one general rule that may be of service 

 in the selection of a suitable position, and it may be 

 expressed most shortly by saying : " Never assume a 

 position in which the angle made by the body, and a 

 line joining the bottom of the back with the feet, is 

 less than a right angle "; but by far the best advice 

 in this direction is to keep the mind off one's aching 

 limbs and on the bird whose return one is ever 

 momentarily anticipating, for once begin to consider 

 your discomforts, and the pain increases ten-fold. 



The Bird's Return. 



And now we will suppose that all preliminaries 

 have been completed, and the assistant has 



