6 TRAVELS ABOUT HOME 



work for the stroller and the dilettante naturalist, whose 

 observations are made chiefly from the wayside, but for the 

 earnest, enthusiastic student of nature, whose ardor in pur- 

 suit of her secrets is intensified by the possibility of actually 

 capturing them, in such definite, graphic form that they 

 become at once tangible additions to the sum of human 

 knowledge. 



Bird photography presents a fascinating but most diffi- 

 cult field for expenditure of effort. The beginner sees the 

 successful results of another's work, and, knowing nothing 

 of the failures, determines to ' ' take bird pictures. ' ' The 

 immediate outcome is doubtless a sacrifice of photographic 

 material and also of bird life, as too great freedom with the 

 nest surroundings, in the desire to secure better lighting, 

 induces the bird to desert her home. 



The would-be photographer, then, should master the tech- 

 nique of photography on such patiently immovable objects 

 as houses, barns, or bridges, which will give fresh ' ' sit- 

 tings ' ' when former ones fail, and then, when the problems 

 of exposure, developing, etc., have been solved, he may go 

 afield for wilder game. 



One may pet or patronize, according to one 's nature, a 

 Chipping Sparrow, Bluebird, or Phoebe, but he is indeed 

 well coated with self-esteem who does not feel a sense of 

 inferiority in the presence of a Jay. He is such a shrewd, in- 

 dependent, and aggressive creature that one is inevitably led 

 to the belief that he is more of a success as a bird than most 

 men are as men. Conspicuous by voice and action during 

 the fall and winter, when other birds are quietest, he 

 becomes silent when other birds are most vocal. If he has a 

 love song it is reserved for the ear of his mate. At this sea- 

 son, he even controls his fondness for owl-baiting, and with 

 it his vituperative gifts. 



The Eobin, the Catbird, and the Thrasher seem eager to 

 betray the location of their nest to every passer-by, but the 

 Blue Jay gives no evidence of the site of his habitation by 



