Miscellaneous Papers. 369 



NOTES ON THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF WILD BIRDS. 



By J. B. Parker, State Agricultural College, Manhattan. 



npHE task of securing photographs of our birds in their wild state 

 ^ has for the student of bird life a peculiar fascination that 

 enables him to persevere in his efforts in spite of the many trials 

 and difficulties with which he is continually beset. No work with 

 which I have had any acquaintance requires more patience, perse- 

 verance and fortitude than that of bird photography. It is a pur- 

 suit that calls for and usually arouses great enthusiasm, but I have 

 learned by experience that it requires more than a superabundance 

 of enthusiasm to enable one to secure good photographs of the 

 birds, and in this short article I shall try to set forth some of the 

 things my experience has taught me. 



First in order comes the matter of equipment. I began with an 

 ordinary 4x5 outfit, such as may be secured from any dealer in 

 cameras. I soon found out that the rectilinear lenses, with a max- 

 imum speed of yS, supplied with such cameras, are too slow. 

 Although most of my work was done with a lens of this kind, I 

 found that, when working with the living, active birds, satisfactory 

 results could be obtained only in bright sunlight between the hours 

 of eight A. M. and four p. M., since it was impossible to use an ex- 

 posure of greater length than one one-hundredth of a second. On 

 cloudy or hazy days nothing in this line could be done, and even 

 on bright days, if a cloud obscured the sun at the critical moment, 

 I was forced to sit idle and look on while some of my best opportu- 

 nities passed by. To my mind, therefore, a lens of high speed, one 

 with a maximum speed of ^6.5 ory6, is a necessity. If the lens is 

 to be used only for this work, a rectilinear of the requisite speed 

 will prove as serviceable as any, but if one lens is to be used for all 

 kinds of scientific work an anastigmatic lens is to be preferred. 



With a fast- working lens we should have a fast-working shutter. 

 This requirement is best met by the focal-plane shutter, with which, 

 however, I have had no experience. Next to this type stand the 

 between-lens shutters of the diaphragm type. Good work can be 

 done, however, with the kind of shutter commonly furnished with 

 cameras, as my photographs show, yet when the camera is set close 

 to the nest it is next to impossible to secure a good photograph if 

 the bird is moving at the instant of exposure. This deficiency in 

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