132 HOW TO STALK WILD ANIMALS 



I knew of another naturalist who was anxious to 

 stalk a certain bird and take a series of photo- 

 graphs. He was successful in his quest because, 

 at the outset, he had made up his mind — like 

 Monsieur Bleriot when he successfully crossed 

 the English Channel recently — that if the feat 

 was capable of accomplishment, he was the man 

 who was going to do it. 



That man had to walk over 150 miles to success- 

 fully complete the small series of photos that he 

 desired to have, but success attended his efforts, 

 and it was afterwards discovered that he had un- 

 expectedly proved, by means of his camera and 

 experiments, a thorny problem in the bird world 

 that had been incapable of solution for over one 

 hundred years ! 



You will find that early morning and towards 

 evening are excellent times for stalking several 

 kinds of animals, for then it is that they usually 

 come from their hiding-places in search of food. 

 Most enjoyable times may be spent in the early 

 morning when the rest of the world is asleep, and 

 no matter how early you may steal softly down 

 some country lane, through a meadow or wood, or 

 by some enchanted river, you will find that some 

 wild creature has forestalled you and risen from 

 its bed much earlier than you. 



I have often tried to rise earlier than several 

 kinds of birds and other creatures, but have found 



