CHAPTER II. 



SOME CURIOSITIES OF WILD LIFE. 



PHOTOGRAPHING A FLYING 

 BIRD WITH A GUN CAMERA. 



TN the present chapter I 

 * propose to speak of a 

 few extraordinary happenings 

 of the countryside, in the 

 hope of stimulating the in- 

 terest of readers who do not 

 trouble to observe what is 

 going on from day to day 

 around them. 



Among the greatest de- 

 lights of natural history are 

 its surprises. You can never say with cer- 

 tainty that the conduct of the individual wild 

 creature whether bird or beast will be exactly 

 that of the species to which it belongs. Mind, 

 disposition, and circumstance all play their part 

 in the doings of Nature's children to a far greater 

 extent than is generally supposed. 



One partridge will forsake her nest and eggs 

 merely because you have discovered their where- 

 abouts, whilst another will stand by her home 

 with so much devotion that she will even come 



