THE ART OF COLLECTING BIRDS. 
9 
charge ^by the bushes catching the trigger or hammer. 
Never allow the muzzle of the gun to point at any one, 
even for an instant. All these things depend upon habit, 
and will cause a thoughtful man, who has handled a gun for 
a long time, to be much more careful than a person who 
seldom takes one in his hands. The thoughtful man 
prefers rather to avoid accidents to himself and others — 
by care in advance — than to risk the chance of having to 
mourn his carelessness afterwards. The various devices for 
snaring birds are undoubtedly the best ways to secure them 
without injuring their plumage. But the collector will 
have to rely mainly upon his gun ; and by following the 
above instruction regarding the light charges, he will find 
that he will generally kill a bird without injuring its 
plumage seriously. If he carefully attends to it afterward 
in the way described, he will save himself much trouble 
when he wishes to preserve it. 
In an old French cook-book may be found a receipt for a 
rabbit-stew, commencing with, First, catch your rabbit,” 
etc., — which rule is applicable to the collector. First, study 
with attention the art of collecting. Many and long have 
been the lessons in collecting that I have taken in long tramps 
through sunshine and storm, in the bracing air among the 
mountains of Northern Maine and New Hampshire, on 
sandy islands and rocky shores, amid the luxuriant forests 
and along the rivers and lagoons of semi-tropical Florida. 
Hours of danger and perplexity have been mingled with 
days of inexpressible pleasure, which all must experience 
who study from the Great Book of Nature. Not easily, 
then, I may add, have I learned what I am trying to im- 
part to others in these pages. 
Since writing the preceding, I have been informed by 
my friend, Mr. W. Brewster, of Cambridge, that in collect- 
ing such small birds as the Warblers, Sparrows, Wrens, etc., 
he has used a “blow-gun” to great advantage, constructed 
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