THE BIRD PHOTOGRAPHER'S OUTFIT 9 



The reflecting camera now in my possession was 

 designed and made by John Rowley, of the Ameri- 

 can Museum of Natural History, and was fully de- 

 scribed and illustrated by him in Bird-Lore for 

 April, 1900. It resembles the upper half of the twin- 

 lens camera in that a mirror, set at an angle of 

 forty-five degrees to the plate, is interposed between 

 the latter and the lens, and reflects its image to a 

 ground glass on top of the camera. This mirror, 

 however, is movable, and the desired object appear- 

 ing in focus on the ground glass, a lever is pressed 

 downward which raises the mirror to the top of the 

 box, where it automatically releases a focal-plane 

 shutter (see beyond, under The Shutter) directly in 

 front of the plate, when the image-bearing rays, be- 

 fore intercepted and reflected by the mirror, are 

 registered on the plate, from which the slide had 

 previously been drawn. 



When the focal-plane or curtain shutter has been 

 set and the slide drawn from the plate holder, this 

 camera is like a cocked gun, which may be fired the 

 moment it is sighted ; or, in other words, the ex- 

 posure may be made the instant focus is secured. 

 With this camera one may take advantage of any 

 offering opportunity to secure a picture of a bird 

 or beast when afield, and this fact, by increasing 

 the possibilities of an outing, adds greatly to its 

 pleasure. 



Mr. Rowley has so designed this camera that it 

 may be used from a tripod as well as in the hands ; 

 but when the tripod camera is to be left, perhaps 

 for hours, hidden near some bird's nest, I prefer to 

 employ the long-focus for this purpose, and retain 



