Introduction xvii 



made each chapter practically a separate book, even to 

 the extent of often repeating myself, in order that any 

 one looking for a certain piece of information need 

 not be forced to look through the entire volume before 

 he can find it. Now, if he wishes to take up a single 

 branch of nature work, the photography of birds, for 

 instance, he has but to read the three chapters on the 

 camera, the dark room, and bird photography in order 

 to get all the information which this book can vouch- 

 safe him. 



Work in nature is, at its best, one of the most diffi- 

 cult branches of all photographic art, and knowing as 

 I do how many and various are the difficulties and 

 how enormous they seem to a beginner, it has been 

 my endeavor to set forth, as clearly as possible, all 

 the devices by which these difficulties can best be 

 surmounted. 



I can look back now and see how much valuable 

 time I lost, when I first entered this field, by having to 

 learn everything for myself, time that could have been 

 used to so much better advantage had I but had a 

 better knowledge of my subject before I started. So 

 I am endeavoring to give that knowledge, which I have 

 gained in the number of years during which I have 

 been, more or less constantly, working with my camera 

 among the wild life, to him who is about to enter the 

 same paths, and I am trusting that, to those who really 

 need aid, this volume will be welcome and prove of 

 some material use. 



The camera, particularly in the last half-dozen years, 

 has done much toward making wild animal life real to 

 those who have never had the opportunity of seeing it 



