however, are mere by-accidents and illustrate the many
practical difficulties. After these had been conquered with patience
and ingenuity, there could be no doubt of the value of the prints.
They are the best of records for size, spacing, and detail, but fail
in giving incidents of wild life, or the landscape surroundings. The
drawings, as already seen, are best for a long series and for faint
features; in fact, the {197} drawings alone can give everything you
can perceive; but they fail in authentic size and detail.

Photography has this great advantage--it gives the surroundings, the
essential landscape and setting, and, therefore, the local reason for
any changes of action on the part of the animal; also the aesthetic
beauties of its records are unique, and will help to keep the method
in a high place.

Thus each of the three means may be successful in a different way, and
the best, most nearly perfect alphabet of the woods, would include all
three, and consist of a drawing, a pedoscript and a photograph of each
track, and a trail; i.e., a single footprint, and the long series of
each animal.

My practice has been to use all whenever I could, but still I find
free-hand drawing is the one of the most practical application. When I
get a photograph I treasure it as an adjunct to the sketch.

A Story of the Trail

To illustrate the relative value as records, of sketch and photograph,
I give a track that I drew from nature, but which could not at any
place have been photographed. This was made in February 15, 1885, near
Toronto. It is really a condensation of the facts, as the trail is
shortened where uninteresting. Page 189, No. 2.

At A, I found a round place about 5 x 8 inches, where a cottontail had
crouched during the light snowfall. At B he had leaped out and sat
looking around; the small prints in front were made by his forefeet,
the two long ones by his hind feet, and farther back is a little
dimple made by the tail, showing that he was sitting on it. Something
alarmed him, causing him to dart out at full speed toward C and D, and
now a remarkable change is to be seen: the marks made by the front
feet are behind the large marks made by the hind feet, because the
rabbit overreaches each time; the hind feet track ahead of the front
feet; the faster he goes, the farther ahead those hind feet get; and
what would happen if he multiplied his speed by ten I really cannot
imagine. This overreach of the hind feet