viii PREFACE. 



to the mind and health to the body, and thanks to 

 the insistance upon its delights by many of our great 

 daily and weekly newspapers, a love of the subject, 

 and desire to know more about it, are growing 

 amongst all classes of the community, and it is our 

 earnest desire to help others, if onty in ever so small 

 a degree, to read the great book of Nature. 



No one can possibly know the fascination of 

 stalking wild creatures in their native haunts with 

 the camera except the man who has himself 

 indulged in the sport. I am aware that I do 

 not approach my subject with the judicial cold- 

 ness of an unloving eye, but at the same time I 

 speak as a man who knows well the joys of shoot- 

 ing the lordly grouse and circumventing the wily 

 trout, and I unhesitatingly say that this new and 

 bloodless form of sport beats them both in point 

 of downright interest. To pit one's skill and in- 

 genuity against the shyness and cunning of a wild 

 bird, or summon the courage and endurance to 

 descend to its home in the face of some dizzy 

 ocean cliff, is in itself a feat which calls forth the 

 very best hunting instincts of the human race. 



Besides being bloodless and consequently harm- 



