vi INTRODUCTION 



one's duty, for not only is there great pleasure to be 

 derived from such knowledge and healthful exercise 

 in the search of material, but knowing something 

 about the birds, trees, or insects enables them through- 

 out life to work intelligently for the preservation of 

 that which needs protection. Game laws would be 

 respected more generally if people would only realise 

 what they mean. The senseless and wanton killing 

 of animal life that goes on all around us would not 

 be tolerated if there was more knowledge of the 

 value of such life. How often do we see people 

 kill hawks, thinking that they are doing a good deed, 

 just as the various Christian sects burned or otherwise 

 killed one another in days gone by, fully believing 

 that such acts were for the good of the world. Let 

 the man who kills a hawk or even a snake first in- 

 quire into the habits of that particular kind of hawk 

 or snake, and usually he will find that by killing it 

 he will be doing harm to his own interests. So it 

 will be seen that there is much to be gained by en- 

 couraging the study of nature in any or all her forms, 

 and, as has already been said, there is nothing that 

 will give the beginner an interest in the subject any 

 more quickly or with greater certainty than the 

 camera. Nearly every one, young or old, possesses 

 some variety of camera, and yet so few ever attempt 

 the portrayal of anything save people and views! 

 Let them direct their energies toward photograph- 



