INTRODUCTORY. 5 



more productive of disappointment than in bird- 

 photography. But, lest the foregoing should have 

 frightened any beginners, let me hasten to point 

 out that the standard of photographic efficiency 

 demanded is not high, but rather of the most 

 elementary nature. In fact, the point at, or 

 beyond which it is hoped the following pages may be 

 taken up, is when an exposure having been made 

 and the negative developed, any pronounced 

 defects therein can be appreciated, and in such 

 simple cases as over or under exposure or develop- 

 ment, the cause of such defects rightly understood. 

 Such a knowledge might easily be picked up in a 

 week or ten days by anyone who gave his mind 

 to careful work. 



Scope. 



Photography for bird-lovers is very much wider 

 in its scope than at first appears probable, and 

 emphatically does not confine itself to the portrayal 

 of birds sitting on their nests. Broadly, it may 

 be divided into three heads, each self-explanatory : 

 (1) The inanimate, (2) the living creature in captivity, 

 and (3) the wild free bird. In all three there is yet 

 much original work to be done, especially, perhaps, 

 in the first and last ; and of these two, if we may 

 further differentiate, perhaps the former is the less 

 exploited. This is only natural : a lifeless egg or 

 bone remains the same to-day, to-morrow, and a 



