48 BIRD STUDIES WITH A CAMERA 



a mark even for a bean-shooter, I entered on a new 

 phase of Chickadee relations. Strangely enough, 

 the killing of the bird seemed, from my point of 

 view, to constitute an introduction to a creature 

 which before I had known only imperfectly, and 

 my acquaintance with the Chickadee may be said 

 to have begun when I picked up the first bird that 

 fell before my aim. However the Chickadee may 

 have regarded my spJ-newhat questionable manner 

 of gaining his friendship, he has since given unmis- 

 takable evidences of his approval of my treatment 

 of his kind. He always replies to my greeting, often 

 coming many yards in answer to my call, and on a 

 number of occasions he has honored me above most 

 men by alighting on my hand. 



When, in more recent years, the gun which suc- 

 ceeded the bean-shooter was in turn replaced by a 

 camera, I found that the Chickadee's tameness made 

 him a mark for my later as he had been for my 

 earlier efforts in bird hunting. Now, however, I 

 believe I may speak for him as well as for myself, 

 and say that the results obtained are more satisfac- 

 tory to us both. It was in Central Park, New York 

 city, in February, 1899, that I went on one of my 

 first Chickadee hunts with a camera. Incidentally 

 the locality gave emphasis to the advantages of the 

 camera over any other weapon. Imagine the sur- 

 prise of the park police had I ventured on their pre- 

 cincts with a gun on my shoulder ! But with a cam- 

 era I could snap away at pleasure without any one's 

 being the wiser many of my " snaps/' I confess 

 being attended by exactly this result. At this time, 

 through the efforts of an enthusiastic and patient 



