118 COLLECTOR'S K AMBLES 



male, but the gun missed fire in both barrels, on 

 account of the very poor quality of caps, which were 

 not waterproof. I was disgusted ; as nothing so exas- 

 perates a hunter as to have his gun miss fire. At the 

 next trial we did not see a bird, but one commenced 

 singing right across the creek from me, and I began 

 the difficult task of crawling upon him. The leaves 

 and ferns were still wet, and I must have made very 

 little noise, as he kept on singing without an interrup- 

 tion. I had to smile several times at his odd noises, 

 and once came very near exploding with laughter at 

 his version of a concert between laughing jackasses. 



Part of the way I was obliged to crawl on my hands 

 and knees, trembling so with excitement, I doubted 

 my being able to shoot when I had the chance. I 

 approached till within a few yards of him ; but, as I 

 rose from the ground, the music suddenly ceased, and 

 with a whistle and a crack he was off like a meteor. 

 I sent a dose of shot after him, as he flashed for an 

 instant among the ferns, but on reaching the spot the 

 tip of one of his long tail-feathers gave evidence of my 

 failure. It began to look as if we were not to have a 

 male bird, with all our hard work, but we tried once 

 more ; and this time a female flew across the creek and 

 ran along the opposite bank. A charge of shot put a 

 stop to her career ; and, just as I was about to pick up 

 the fluttering bird, a fine male came out of the bushes 

 to investigate matters, and as I had left my gun behind, 



