6 Photography for the Sportsman Naturalist 



hawk, but aiding in the extermination of one of 

 his very good allies, who, by catching and eating 

 numerous of the small rodents and insects which 

 injure his crops, helps him materially in gaining 

 his livelihood. The sportsman might well ask 

 himself who has the better right to the quail, — he 

 who shoots it for the pleasure it affords him, or 

 the owl who takes it in order that he may live ? 

 In point of fact, however, the owls, and but few 

 of the entire family Raptores, catch game or other 

 birds to any extent, and we are doing them a grave 

 injustice when we unreservedly accuse them all. 



It is these and other useful facts that the camera 

 helps us to learn, and so, as the interest in natural 

 history is constantly on the increase, it is well 

 that we who may should turn our attention and 

 devote our energies toward photographing, in 

 detail, almost any common object in nature, es- 

 pecially as nowadays nearly every one, young or 

 old, possesses some kind of a camera. 



The scientific value of nature photography lies 

 largely in the fact that, as I have already stated, 

 the results are accurate and true to life, and by 

 no other means can the wild life be so truthfully 

 portrayed. No mere wordy description, no draw- 

 ing, no matter how good, can adequately answer 

 the purpose. Where is the artist who can repro- 

 duce the intricate construction of a bird's nest so 

 perfectly as can the camera ? Or where is the 



