IX 



IT is easy, much easier than you think, to get 

 close to wild birds and beasts; for after you 

 have met them a few times in the friendly, im- 

 personal way I have tried to describe, two interest- 

 ing traits appear: the first, that they do not see 

 you clearly so long as you hold still; the second, 

 that even their keen noses lose track of you after 

 you have been quiet for a little time. 



The eye is a weak point in all animals I have 

 chanced to observe, which apparently depend less 

 on sight than on any other sense so far as safety 

 goes, that is. In gratifying their curiosity they 

 seem to be all eyes. At other times they will 

 catch an abrupt or unusual motion quickly enough; 



[211] 



