EYES AND NO EYES 
of these I would fain answer ; but I make it a rule 
not to betray the whereabouts of any of the wild 
creatures whose secrets I have surprised. 
As I said before, it is really hard work watching 
any members of the rail family ; for the cunning of 
these birds exceeds all belief, and the places they 
frequent are nothing but quakes. Early in the 
morning and late in the evening are the times for 
getting a glimpse of them that is, if you are lucky 
in this, for they move about more like rats than 
birds. Then the midges rise in clouds and sting 
you most horribly, swamp lands being the abiding 
place of these insect pests. They form a portion of 
the daily food of the rails in their nesting time. 
And perhaps when you have even offered a 
rustic, on whose plot of land you want to trespass 
when in quest of your bird, a sum of money for a 
small grey and brown bird that you have seen, if he 
will snare it for you or allow you to snare it some 
of the garden plots are only separated from the 
swamps by a turf wall he wonders, and some little 
diplomacy is necessary ; for the owners are very 
tenacious about right of way, and will resent any 
attempt at trespass, even fiercely. 
Many have been my failures compared to my 
successes in hunting after wild things. Let me 
