6 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR BIRD-LOVERS. 



year hence, and does not seem to call for reproduc- 

 tion, whereas an active bird is ever fascinating, 

 ceaselessly changing its appearance and expression. 

 Work on the inanimate rather savours merely of 

 the "ologies," and, therefore, at once appears for- 

 bidding to not a few, while bird-portraiture simply 

 for enjoyment's sake requires no study, and is a 

 growing hobby in itself. 



It might be truly said that at the present time 

 there are, though probably unconsciously, two 

 " schools " at work. The one, the " bird-photo- 

 graphers," work purely for enjoyment's sake and 

 through a natural love of the open air and all 

 living things, and a delight at being brought into 

 touch and sympathy with wild creatures in their 

 natural haunts. These are, perhaps, the most 

 to be envied, for their work is practically all 

 pleasure, save for the little trials and disappoint- 

 ments necessarily incident to the sport, without 

 which bird-photography would assuredly lose half 

 its charm. It matters little to them whether it 

 be Corvus corone or Corvus comix that is about to 

 settle on the nest so long as they secure a picture 

 of a crow at home. They love the work more for 

 its own sake than for the value of the result 

 obtained. 



The other, the "photo-ornithologists," work prim- 

 arily, not as photographers, but as naturalists, 



