INTRODUCTION xv 



111 erecting the blind, if circumstances permit, it is desir- 

 able to place the "door" toward the wind to insure better 

 ventilation. When the situation is exposed, an additional 

 stay or two may be required. If the camera box is not 

 strong enough to sit on, a collapsible, artist's camp-stool 

 should be added to the outfit. One cannot spend half a day 



The Umbrella Blind at a Warbling Vireo's Nest 



The covering is here secured to the edge of an ordinary um- 

 brella, lacking the essential ventilation hole. (Shoal Lake, 

 Man., June, 1901. See p. 319.) 



in such close quarters and observe and record to advantage 

 unless one is comfortable seated. 



Within the shelter of this "cloak of invisibility," I have 

 passed the most enjoyable and, I hope, profitable hours of 

 my life as a field naturalist. There is a supreme and whole- 

 some pleasure in feeling that one has reached a point of 

 vantage from which the drama of animal life may be studied 

 without the performers knowing that they are under obser- 

 vation. Wholly aside from the often thrilling novelty of 



