hegxer] bird photography 13:? 



whet the observational powers to so keen an edge as the long 

 continued watching of one particular live animal in its natural 

 environment. The study of a bird's remains in the laboratory 

 is mere drudging compared with the far more pleasant and in- 

 structive observation of it in the field. 



The writer began his photographic career with a five dollar 

 Hawkeye camera, and spent part of the summer of 1897 experi- 

 menting with this modest instrument. The results may be 

 judged by one of the photographs which appeared in the first 

 volume of Bird Lore^ and was called by Mr. Chapman a "unique 

 picture of a Bluebird.'' This camera, however, was clumsy and 

 was exchanged the following year for a long-focus Premo — a 

 fairly good instrument at that time. Sine then ■great improve- 

 ments have been made, and photographs are now possible that 

 could not have been procured with the older instruments. Refer- 

 ence is made especially to the combination of the focal plane 

 shutter with the reflex principle, and the use of more rapid lenses, 

 more rapid plates, and smaller cases. The reader is referred 

 to special books^ on bird photography for detailed descriptions of 

 photographic apparatus, since we are concerned here only with a 

 few methods (which are mere suggestions) of taking photographs 

 of birds, nests, and eggs with an inexpensive camera. 



2. PHOTOGR.XPHING BIRDS' NESTS. 



It is easier to photograph a bird's nest than it is to obtain 

 a picture of the bird itself, and a nest that is built on the ground 

 is not so difficult as one placed in a tree. For example, one of 

 the earliest of the nest builders in the Middle West is the Prairie 

 Horned Lark. Often the nest of this bird is completed before the 

 snow has left the ground and frequently snow storms occur after 

 the eggs are all laid. The nest is a slight hollow in the ground, 

 lined with dry grasses. Three or four eggs are usually laid. 

 To take a photograph of such a nest all that is necessary is to 

 set up the camera three feet from it and pointing down at an 

 angle of 4o degrees ; then, if the sun is shining too brightly, 

 decrease the intensity of the light that falls upon the nest by inter- 

 posing a piece of thin cheese cloth. A short exposure with a 

 small diaphragm will give more detail than a snapshot with the 

 lens wide open. Figure i shows the nest of a Prairie Horned 

 Lark which was photographed rather late in the season. It was 



iBird Lore. \^ol. I. pp. 43-44. 



-For example ^Ir. Chapman's "Bird Studies with a Camera.*' 

 and Mr. F. H. Herrick's "Home Life of Wild Birds." 



