CHAPTER I 



WHAT I HAVE DONE WITH BIRDS 



The greatest thing possible to do 

 with a bird is to win its confidence. In 

 a few days' work about most nests the 

 birds can be taught so to trust me, that 

 such studies can be made as are here 

 presented of young and old, male and 

 female. 



I am not superstitious, but I am 

 afraid to mistreat a bird, and luck is 

 with me in the indulgence of this fear. 



In all my years of field work not one study of a nest, or of any 

 bird, has been lost by dealing fairly with my subjects. If a nest 

 is located where access is impossible without moving it, an ex- 

 posure is not attempted, and so surely as the sun rises on another 

 morning, another nest of the same species is found within a few 

 days, where a reproduction of it can be made. 



Recently, in summing up the hardships incident to securing 

 one study of a brooding swamp-bird, a prominent nature lover 

 and editor said to me most emphatically, "That is not a woman's 

 work." 



"I do not agree with you," I answered. "In its hardships, in 

 wading, swimming, climbing, in hidden dangers suddenly to be 

 confronted, in abrupt changes from heat to cold, and from light to 

 dark, field photography is not a woman's work; but in the matter 

 of finesse in approaching the birds, in limitless patience in await- 

 ing the exact moment for .the best exposure, in the tedious and 



