128 American Birds 



The chief source of satisfaction in a camera study of 

 bird life comes not in the odd-time chances of observa- 

 tion, but in a continued period of leisure when one may 

 spend his entire time about bird homes just as he takes a 

 week's vacation at the sea-shore. One cannot take a cam- 

 era, no matter how expensive it is, and snap off good bird 

 pictures during the spare moments of a busy day. He 

 might, however, fill half a dozen note-books with valuable 

 odd-time observations. To be sure, the joy of nature 

 comes to the amateur, not to the professional, but to be a 

 successful amateur bird-photographer one has fairly to 

 make a business of lying in wait for his subjects hour after 

 hour, day by day, and maybe week after week. The re- 

 ward of real success comes not in mere acquaintanceship 

 with some feathered bit of flying life, but in real friend- 

 ship ; there cannot be the formality of a society call, but one 

 should, by frequent visits, be well enough acquainted to 

 drop in at any time with his camera without interfering 

 with the daily affairs of family life. 



The real value of photography is that it records the 

 truth. The person who photographs birds successfully 

 has to study his subjects long and carefully. He is likely, 

 therefore, to get a good set of notes, and not to be 

 compelled to complete his observations when he is seated 

 in the comfortable chair of his study. Of course, in the 

 study of art, we may try to improve on nature, but in 

 nature study truth is the chief thing. We must under- 

 stand that a beast or bird is interesting for its own wild 

 sake. 



Of course it showed a pure lack of discretion to try to 

 picture the home of such a shy warbler during the days of 



