32 Wild Birds. 



Camera. Any good long focus camera with reversible back will answer, the size 

 and weight being the considerations of greatest moment. Most naturalists and sports- 

 men, who travel long distances and carry their own traps, find a camera which takes a 

 4x5 plate the most convenient and economical. I have used this, but for work with 

 the tent prefer the 5x7 size because it gives a larger and better picture of the object 

 sought. The large camera with a heavy lens may be a drag on the mind and body of the 

 most enthusiastic pedestrian, but one is usually amply repaid for the greater trouble 

 involved. For long journeys however the lightest possible outfit is decidedly preferable. 



In working at short range with lenses of moderate focus the long bellows is a necessity, 

 and at the same time enables one to take full sized pictures of small objects, as well as to 

 use the telephoto lens should this be desired. The reversible back, making it possible 

 to reverse the position of the plate without moving the camera and often without disturb- 

 ing the bird, is an adjunct of the greatest convenience. 



While the best tools are always to be desired, excellent pictures can be made with a 

 cheap outfit, provided the lens is rapid enough. Nearly all of my own work has been 

 done in the tent with the birds at hand, but in taking quick shots of birds or quadrupeds 

 when there is no lure to chain them to a given spot a hand-box camera is needed. The 

 lens should be of long focus, and the adjustments such as to enable the operator to focus 

 and expose as nearly simultaneously as possible. To meet these requirements the twin- 

 lens and reflecting cameras, both of which are old inventions, 1 have in recent years been 

 placed on the market in improved and serviceable forms. 



The " twin-lens " consists of two cameras, set one above the other, the bellows of 

 which move as one. The lower takes the picture, while the upper gives the image which 

 is reflected on a glass plate set in the top of the box. Besides being expensive and 

 heavy, the trade sizes of these cameras are apt to be of too short focus to be of much 

 service to the animal photographer. 



The reflecting camera* does the work of the two lenses with a single lens and 

 bellows, and in the recent designs is provided with a focal plane shutter, which is one of 

 the best for exposures quicker than the T fa second mark of ordinary shutters. Like the 

 upper half of the " twin-lens " it has a movable mirror, set at an angle of 45 , which casts 

 the image made by the lens on a plate of ground glass set in the top of the box and shielded 

 by an adjustable hood. The mirror is so placed between the plate and lens that the dis- 

 tance from lens to sensitive plate equals the distance traversed by light in passing from lens 

 to mirror and ground glass. When the object is focused, a lever is pressed which raises the 

 mirror and automatically releases the shutter. One must expect to find the image on the 

 ground glass somewhat dimmer than when no interposing mirror is used. To be most 

 serviceable this camera should have a long bellows. 



The Lens. In animal photography short and long focus, and telephoto lenses are 

 available. My own experience has been mainly limited to the following : Zeiss Anastigmat 



1 The principle of the reflecting camera was applied as early as 1860, and various forms of the reflex type were 

 devised during the next thirty years. In 1891 Dr. Kriigener of Frankfort brought out his " Normal Reflex-Camera," 

 in which the construction, though somewhat complicated, was much improved. The principles are essentially the 

 same in the later designs : see Ausfuhrliches ffandbitch der Photographic, by Josef Maria Eder, Halle, 1891. For an 

 account of the reflecting camera with focal plane shutter, by Mr. John Rowley, see Bird Lore, April, 1900. 



2 Manufactured by the Reflex Camera Co., Yonkers, N. Y. 



