The Audubon Societies 



71 



first, which is to be the entering wedge, 

 must be as popular in scope as it is consist- 

 ant with accuracy and the dignity that 

 should always be a part of Audubon work 

 if it is to escape the ridicule of many who 

 are always waiting opportunities to accord 

 it. 



Only the most familiar birds of the lo- 

 cality should be treated, in order to make 

 the subject a part of every-day life and in 

 every way intimate. Scissors and paste se- 

 lections and mere detailed descriptions of 

 birds repel even if they chance to catch 

 the ear of the listener, — the pictures should 

 be allowed to speak for themselves and the 

 text be a skilfully woven narrative to keep 

 the bird portraits and the views of their 

 haunts and homes in unison. For there is 

 always one thing to bear in mind in com- 

 posing the text of a lecture to be read by 

 every one and everywhere, — the author is 

 not the speaker. 



When a lecture is spoken or even read 

 by its author, he, if he is worth listening 

 to, paints a picture by color of tone and 

 expression, touches lightly on the unim- 

 portant and lingers over that which is 

 appealing. But the free circulating lecture 

 appears in text of cold type; it is usually 

 read by some one who may not have had 

 the time to even glance it through by way 

 of preparation, and who is also perhaps 

 handicapped by an equally inexperienced 

 man at the lantern, who keeps the subject 

 and illustrations at odds by misplacing the 

 slides and inserting the Great Blue Heron 

 in place of the Hummingbird ; so if the 

 thought of the lecture be as lifeless as the 

 type that expresses it, it has no reason for 

 being. 



Instead of saying, as many have — "Any- 

 thing will do for a free lecture; it is going 

 among a people who know nothing" — I 

 hold that the writing of such a work 

 is among the most difficult bits of bird 

 literature, for it is akin to writing a ser- 

 mon that shall both read and speak well, 

 and we all know how few of the best 

 specimens of oratorical art will bear this 

 test. 



Given your text, then comes the difficulty 

 of gathering a well-colored set of from fifty 



to seventy slides of birds, etc., for its illus- 

 trations, though this is an easier matter 

 than four years ago, when bird photography 

 was a new art. Yet still another note of 

 warning. For this first lecture, it is wise 

 to have only the most distinct and individ- 

 ual bird pictures, with little background, 

 after Fuertes' method, a style for which the 

 late Dr. Coues was a fighting champion 

 and rightly, the haunts to be given upon 

 separate slides. 



The bird photographed in its haunt by 

 an expert is of great beauty and value to 

 the student or nature- lover, but it is apt to 

 be inadequate and confusing to those in the 

 kindergarten stage of identification. The 

 novice is more attracted by the picture of 

 even a ridiculously fat Bluebird perched on 

 a fence-rail than in a shadow dodging 

 about a telegraph pole, which he is in- 

 formed by the taker is a Bluebird leaving 

 its hole. We have many bird photog- 

 raphers whose work is simply marvelous, 

 but their pictures are seldom accessible for 

 the free lecture, and in bird photography 

 the next grade below the best produces 

 guessing pictures more complicated than the 

 prize puzzles in the Sunday papers. 



I was recently offered ' a bargain ' in the 

 way of photographs ' from nature ' to illus- 

 trate school work. The slides came to me 

 numbered, but ahead of the list of subjects. 

 I tried to name them. Most of them were 

 nebulous; one, however, I placed beyond 

 doubt: it seemed to be the shadowy form of 

 a skunk in the grass, with his plumy tail 

 outlined against the sky. Imagine my feel- 

 ings when, on comparing the number with 

 the list, I found it marked — ' Meadow Lark 

 rising from nest ' ! 



If our model, the Massachusetts Society, 

 allows such a use, I would suggest that if 

 photographed separately the birds from its 

 valuable charts would, supplemented by 

 seasonal landscapes, make an excellent set 

 of slides for the first lecture of any society 

 unable to pay for specially designed 

 pictures. 



Having your lecture, slides and a good 

 oil or acetylene lantern (the best will be 

 cranky enough) packed in a strong, metal- 

 cornered box, the final move is to select a 



