xxiv Introduction 



has been retained, with cross-hatching added, while the drawing 

 of both young and adult birds is taken direct from nature. The 

 picture was the work of a man competent to observe, and skilful 

 with the brush, but without the motives of scientific accuracy, 

 and hampered by those curious conventions of art which the 

 ancient Egyptians were never able to wholly shake off. 



VII 



Nearly all the illustrations of this volume are from photo- 

 graphs of adult birds, and in some cases are arranged in series, 

 and portray certain actions which are performed in routine. 

 With very few exceptions all were made by means of the method 

 that is to say, the photographs were taken deliberately and not 

 by chance. My plan is to watch the life at the nest very closely, 

 hour by hour, and day by day, and I often make a large number 

 of photographs to illustrate typical and unusual scenes at a nest. 

 The observer has the advantage of being on the spot, of being 

 able to see every act performed, and to seize every opportunity 

 which may arise. Many of the photographs here shown could 

 not have been obtained by any other means. 



Among the water birds, this method has been most fully ap- 

 plied to the Great Herring Gull, the communal life of which, 

 with the many singular attitudes assumed on the perches and 

 about their preserves, can be represented in the fullest detail, 

 but the results of these studies will be offered at some future 

 time. 



For portrayal of animals in action the camera is of value, 

 because of the very exactness with which we are able to catch 

 and register a fleeting attitude or expression as well as the varied 

 series of bodily acts which are the momentary witnesses of the 

 instinct and intelligence of animals. The camera is an impartial 

 observer and taker of notes, and a kind of third eye to which we 

 may appeal when in doubt. However great its limitations, they 

 are of a different character from those of the actual observer. 

 The photograph is not to be foolishly vaunted over the work of 

 the artist, for the camera supplants or replaces nothing; it is a 



