MIND USDER WATER. 169 



with the arms close to the sides many birds will let 

 the sportsman approach. Rabbits will do the same. 

 Rabbits have one advantage (and perhaps only one) : 

 being numerous and feeding out by daylight, all kinds 

 of experiments can be tried on them, while hares are 

 not so easily managed. Suppose a rabbit feeding, and 

 any one with a gun creeping up beside the hedge, 

 while the gun is kept down and the arms down the 

 rabbit remains still ; the instant the arms are lifted to 

 point the gun, up he sits, or off he goes. You have 

 only to point your arm at a rook, without any gun, to 

 frighten him. Bird-keepers instinctively raise their 

 arms above their heads, when shouting, to startle 

 birds. Every creature that has ever watched man 

 knows that his arms are dangerous. The poacher or 

 wild hunter has to conceal his arms by reducing their 

 movements to a minimum, and by conducting those 

 movements as slowly as possible. 



To thoroughly appreciate the importance which 

 animals of all kinds put on the motions of the upper 

 limbs, and to put one's self quite in their position, one 

 has only to recall to mind the well-known trick of the 

 Australian bushrangers. "Bail up I" is their order 

 when they suddenly produce their revolvers; "Bail 

 up ! " they shout to the clerks of the bank they are 

 about to sack, to the inmates of a house, or to the 

 travellers they meet on the road. "Hold your arms 

 above your head " is the meaning ; and, if it is not im- 

 mediately obeyed, they fire. They know that every 

 man has a pistol in his pocket or belt ; but he cannot 

 use it if compelled to keep his arms high over his 

 head. One or more of the band keep a sharp look-out 



