THE HOME LIFE OF 

 WILD BIRDS 



CHAPTER I 



A NEW METHOD OF BIRD STUDY AND PHOTOGRAPHY 



THE method of studying the habits of wild birds which this 

 volume illustrates consists in bringing the birds to you and 

 then camping beside them, in watching their behavior at arm's 

 length and in recording with the camera their varied activites. 

 By means of such a method one may live with the birds for days 

 at a time, and watch the play of their most interesting habits 

 and instincts. The actors are not confined in cages; they suffer 

 indeed no restraint, excepting that only which their nature 

 imposes. They come and go at will, and their life is as free and 

 untrammeled as ever. 



The method enables one to see with his own eyes at a distance 

 of a few inches or feet, more or less, what birds do in and about 

 their nests, and at the same time affords the rare opportunity 

 of making photographs, not a single picture or a chance shot 

 now and then, but an unlimited series of pictures to illustrate 

 the behavior of birds in the fullest manner and at the most 

 interesting period of their lives. It is often an easy matter to 

 focus the camera directly upon the bird itself and to give a time 

 exposure when desired. Moreover, you can approach as near 

 as you wish, and make photographs of any required size. 



