38 American Birds 



eyes open, you have not failed to pick up some interesting 

 bits of information. 



Hunting and fishing have their moments of intense 

 excitement. Occasionally I like to go back to the more 

 primitive way by taking to the trail for two or three weeks 

 to hunt and fish for a living. It sharpens the senses to 

 live as the Indian lived. I have waded mountain streams 

 and whipped the riffles for trout. I have hunted the woods 

 for a dinner of grouse and quail. There's not a moment 

 of more intense excitement that comes to the fisher or 

 hunter than comes to the photographer as he lies hidden 

 in the bushes, camera focused and bulb in hand, waiting 

 for some sly creature to come Into position. If it takes 

 a fine shot to clip the wing of a flying quail, or to catch 

 a buck on the jump, it takes a skilled hand to anticipate 

 bird movements that are too rapid for the eye, and click 

 the shutter at the exact instant. A smile of deep satis- 

 faction sweeps over the face of the photographer as he 

 stands over the dim, red-lighted bench and sees the magic 

 chemicals transform the white-colored glass, and etch out 

 a feathered family as true as life itself. He has a feel- 

 ing of higher pleasure than the hunter gets in looking at 

 his game. 



Yellow-throat, according to my ideas, was more of an 

 ideal husband and father than many male birds. He was 

 thoughtful about the home, he worked side by side with 

 his wife, and never failed or faltered for an instant. In 

 fact, he often marched squarely up in the face of the 

 camera, when his mate had some doubt about facing the 

 stare of the big round eye. By this time he had forgotten 

 his witchety call. He crossed the border of the garden 



