APPROACHING BIRDS. rail 
approach is in direct ratio to the size of the bird; it is perhaps 
because large, conspicuous birds are objects of more general 
pursuit than the little ones you ordinarily search for. The 
qualities that birds possess for self-preservation may be called 
wariness in large birds, shyness in small ones. The former 
make off knowingly from a suspicious object; the latter fly 
from anything thatis strange to them, be it dangerous or not. 
This is strikingly illustrated in the behavior of small birds in 
the wilderness, as contrasted with their actions about towns; 
singular as it may seem they are more timid under the former 
circumstances than when grown accustomed to the presence of 
man. Itis just the reverse with a hawk or raven, for instance ; 
in populous districts they spend much of their time in trying 
to save their skins, while in a new country they have not learned, 
like Indians, that a white man is “mighty uncertain.” In 
stealing on a shy bird, you will of course take advantage of 
any cover that may offer, as inequalities of the ground, thick 
bushes, the trunks of trees; and it is often worth while to make 
a considerable détour to secure unobserved approach. I think 
that birds are more likely, as a rule, to be frightened away by 
the movements of the collector, than by his simpie presence, 
however near, and that they are more afraid of noise than of 
mere motion. Crackling of twigs and rustling of leaves are 
sharp sounds, though not loud ones; you may have sometimes 
been surprised to find how distinctly you could hear the move- 
ments of a horse or cow in underbrush at some distance. 
Birds have sharp ears for such sounds. Form a habit of 
stealthy movement ; 7 tells, in the long run, in comparison with 
lumbering tread. There are no special precautions to be taken 
in shooting through high open forest ; you have only to saunter 
along with your eyes in the tree-tops. It is ordinarily the easiest 
and on the whole the most remunerative path of the collector. 
In traversing fields and meadows move briskly, your principal 
object being to flush birds out of the grass; and as most of 
your shots will be snap ones, keep in readiness for instant 
action. Excellent and varied shooting is to be had along hedge 
rows, and in the rank herbage that fringes fences. It is best 
