server. A notebook and a lead
pencil, carried in handy pockets, should not be forgotten. Donning an
old suit of clothes, you can roam where you will, threading your way
through brier and bush, wading the bog or the shallow stream, dropping
upon your knees, even flinging yourself upon the ground, to spy upon a
wary bird flitting about in the copse.

In almost all kinds of weather I wear rubber boots in my excursions to
the haunts of the birds. The observer can never tell when he may have
to wade a stream or tramp through a boggy marsh. In wet and cold
weather the need of rubber boots can be seen readily, but even in dry
and warm weather they have one decided advantage--they do not become
slippery on the soles as one tramps through the leaf-strewn woods or
the grassy fields. Every pedestrian knows that sole-leather is apt to
become as smooth as glass, making it difficult to retain one's footing.
On the other hand, rubber seems to cling to the ground, no matter how
much it is worn. The only objection to rubbers is that they are
uncomfortably warm in hot weather; but that difficulty can be overcome
by frequently plunging into a cool stream and standing there for
several minutes.

Let me caution you, however, not to purchase a _heavy_ pair of rubber
boots. Insist on having a light pair or none at all. A good pair of
rubber boots are a real luxury, for with them you may tramp about in
all kinds of damp and boggy places without fear of wetting your feet,
though it goes without saying that you must be careful not to wade in
over the tops of your footgear.

Of great assistance to the pedestrian is a light cane. In climbing
Pikes Peak one evening after dark, I doubt whether I should have been
able to gain the summit had it not been for my tough little wild-cherry
cane, upon which I could lean when almost exhausted, which supported my
faltering steps, and which happily never grew weary. Two years later
it helped me to scale a number of snow-capped mountains, among them
Grays Peak and Peak Number Eight of the Ten Mile Range. Indeed, my
little cane was of so much service to me that I came to look upon it as
a personal friend that cared almost as much for me as I did for it. It
pushed aside thorny bushes and nettlesome weeds when I was looking for
nests, thus saving my hands many a painful wound. And more than one
serpent, including the rattlesnake, has had his head crushed or his
spine broken by sturdy blows from my