PHOTOGRAPHY AND ORNITHOLOGY 



A SERIES OK PHOTOGRAPHS RKPKODUCKD FOR THEIR SCIENTIFIC VALUE. 

 AS EXPRESSING THE NORMAL BIRD IN ITS MOST CHARACTERISTIC POSE 



BY ARTHUR A. ALLEN 

 Assislniit Profi'ssor of OriiitliolKtcv , Coriii'll rnivcrsily 



As tilt' study of tlio liviiit^ liird assiiincs :i uioic iiii|i()it:itit jilai-t' in ()iiiitii<)l(>;;_\ , iilidtujr- 

 liiiiliv liiM'omt's iiuTcasini^ly valiialilc. Willi tlif i-aiiii'ra, cimii)!!'!!' ainl iiislantaiii'oiis records 

 of olisi'ixations can he iiiailo, and acciiiat»> n'lircst'iitatioiis of tlio li\ iii<f liiids can lu» jn'c- 

 sfivod. It must not li(> thoujiiit, however, that the camera is infallilde. For, while it can 

 reproduce the living bird nearly as realistically as can the art of taxidermy, a poor photo- 

 jiraph is more (lanjjerous to ornitholoy;ical science than a jioorly iiuMiiited sj)ecimen is to a 

 museum, because, with seemiiiii truth, it often conveys an entirely erroneous impression. 

 'J'echnical faults of exposure and lij^htinij, ilistortion due to foreshorteniiijr or due to shal- 

 lowness of the focal area. rendiM- iiiijierfect a jjreat many of the pictures tiiken. Or a 

 photojjrajih may be ]ierfect technically ami still, owing to iinnatural setting or to an un- 

 natural position of the bird, have little scientilic value. Indeed a large ])ercentage of gooil 

 bird photographs, instead of showing the n'al «|iaracter of the bird, show only the bird's 

 resjionse to fear. 



A perfect photograi)li shows at a glance what pages of text would fail in convey. More- 

 over, it shows it more accurately, and it conveys exactly the same imjjression to everyone. 

 In fact, the value of a ])hotograph can be measured by its degree of superiority over a 

 written descrijition. The percentage of perfect photograjilis obtained l)y even the must 

 experienced bird ])hotograi)her is always necessarily small. 



The accompanying photographs have been selected from the author's entire collection. 

 With the excejition of the least bittern, the birds are devoid of fear and oblivious to the 

 presence of the photographer. 



A WATER CHICKEN AND ITS NEST 



The Florida g.-illinulc, water cliirkcii. or ni\i(i hen is alioiit the size of a liaiitaiu ami lias niaii> 



lienlike notes including a loud raucous cackle, quite startling wlien heard close at hand. The 



gallinulc belongs to the same family as the rails, and although it has the typical long. 



slender toes without webs, it swims readily. It does not usually venture far from 



the shelter of the reeds, however, and at the sliglitest alarm it patters across 



the water for cover. Its large, spotted, coffee-colored eggs are laid in a 



shallow nest of dried flags. If the water in the marsh rises, the nests 



are often built up a foot or more to keep the eggs dry 



nil 



