iSgi.] Correspondence. 24 1 



ical subjects, and the niajoi-itv of tliein were examined bv the writer with 

 great care. For one, I was disappointed in the results arrived at bv tiie 

 authors of the most of them ; as tliere appeared to be such a total absence 

 of any practical result attained. Among the best that I saw were some 

 taken by Dr. Edgar A Mearns, but even those, the work of a most pains- 

 taking naturalist, did not come up to what the camera is capable of per- 

 forming for practical ornithology. I^ittle or nothing is to be gained in 

 this latter direction bv photographing bunches of game, or badlv mounted 

 specimens, and similar subjects. Any \\\o ran accomplish as much as 

 that, and ornithology not be called ui)on to thank him for it. 



In the present communication it is the writer's object to relate some 

 personal experiences which may be of assistance to those interested in 

 this line of work. 



Now in the first place as to some of the objects to be attained : There 

 are a number of these. We may desire, for example, a sharp, clear pho- 

 tograph, which either may be natural size or mav present the subject re- 

 duced, for the use of the lithographer, in order to place in the laltei's 

 hands an accurate figure to be copied on to stone, and the plates piinted 

 therefrom to be used for illustrative purposes. The subject may be a 

 bird, its young, or its nest, or a dissection of a bird, or its skeleton, or its 

 eggs, and so on indefinitely. Owls present to many artists diflicult sub- 

 jects to draw satisfactorily, but there is no reason why we should not, by 

 the aid of the camera and a 5 X S plate, for a small sum, and in very short 

 order, have ready for the lithographer a life-size figure, and a perfectly 

 accurate one, of such a species as Nyctala acadica, or upon a similar 

 plate a handsomely reduced figure oi Bubo virginianus. Again, by varj-- 

 ing our material colored figures are easily obtained for like purposes. 

 Photographs of this character may also be used to make -woodcuts from, 

 or they may be reproduced by some of the various styles of 'process 

 work.' Yet another object : — We may desire to produce by the aid of a 

 camera an accurate figure of any of the above-mentioned subjects from 

 which an electrotype can be directly made. This also is now easy of ac- 

 complishment, and such illustrations meet a vast variety of needs in 

 descriptive ornithology. These then are some of the principal objects to 

 be attained, viz. : — -Clear, accurate figures, either life-size or reduced to 

 any desired size, and eitherplain orcolored, which (by the use of diff'erent 

 materials) can be used at once, by either the lithographer, the wood-en- 

 graver, the 'process worker,' or the electrotyper. 



Your material must be of the best in all particulars. I use a large, 

 first-class, quick- working lens ; a Blair's camera for the 5 X 8 plate ; the iron 

 and oxalate developer, using the chemically pure material (filtered) ; 

 bichloride of mercury and ammonia for intensifying, etc. , etc. 



Our method of procedure can best be illustrated by a few examples. 

 Say we wish to reproduce, life-size, a Hawk's egg. Suspend on the wall 

 opposite and under the strong sun light a smooth, half-inch, pine board. 

 Cover this with zv/iite blotting-paper, held on with some half dozen 

 artist's thumb-tacks. Of course your egg is to be blown, arid not shovy 



