6 Bird'- Lore 



species drawn are best served by the elimination or suppression of all unneces- 

 sary accessories. Given a branch on which to perch, or a stick to stand upon, 

 and all other suggestion of out-of-doors may be omitted. The accompanying 

 Evening Grosbeak and Least Sandpiper pictures are good illustrations of this 

 kind of bird drawing. But it is one of the most promising features of Mr. 

 Brandreth's art that he is not content to rest here. In several of the paintings 

 in his exhibition he has aimed to portray not merely the bird on the bough, but 

 the bird in its haunts, a kind of bird painting in which it is evident success can 

 be won only by an artist who is a good landscapist as well as a good bird por- 

 trait painter. 



The painting of the Loon, here inadequately reproduced in black and white, 

 gives some conception of the character of Mr. Brandreth's work in this higher 

 branch of ornithological art. The Loon, a male, is shown in one of its courtship 

 evolutions when, calling loudly, it seems to half run, half jump over the water 

 about the female. The bird's excitement at this season is increased by an 

 approaching storm, and its calls echoing over the water voice the spirit of the 

 wilderness. No one who has been thrilled by the Loon's weird cries can fail 

 to have the experience recalled by Mr. Brandreth's painting, — an indication, 

 therefore, that the artist has at least approached the mark toward which he 

 was aiming. 



Other subjects give additional proof that if Mr. Brandreth continues to 

 follow the path in which he has made so promising a start, he will win a place 

 among the few men who can claim to be both painters of birds and of nature. 



EVENING GROSBEAKS 

 Photographed by L. F. Brehmer, at Rutland, Vt., March 1917 



