Vol. XXIV, No. 7 



WASHINGTON 



JULY, 1913 



/rnl 



U 



ATIOMM. 

 ®(3ISAIPIHIE€ 



WILD ANIMALS THAT TOOK THEIR OWN 

 PICTURES BY DAY AND BY NIGHT 



By George Shiras, 3rd 



Mi\ Shiras, as a pioneer in camera hunting and the originator of night pho- 

 tography of zvild animals, has also assisted in the conservation of wild life by being 

 the author, zvhen in Congress, of the original bills putting under Federal control 

 migratory Ush and migratory birds, zvhich latter measure, knozvn subsequently as 

 the Weeks-McLean Bill, became a lazju March 4, 1^13. This act, covering mi- 

 gratory zvild-fozvl, and by later amendment insectivorous birds, is the most impor- 

 tant bird legislation ever enacted for the benefit of sportsmen, nature lovers, and 

 agricidturists. In a brief Hied zvith the Senate in ipi2, Mr. Shiras also suggested 

 a series of international agreements to protect birds migrating betzveen nations^ 

 and a resolution has been offered in the Senate calling upon the President to> 

 negotiate such treaties. 



Readers of the National Geographic Magazine zvill recall with much pleasure 

 the very original and instructive articles by Mr. Shiras, previously published in- 

 this magazine, as follozvs: "Photographing Wild Game zvith Flashlight and Cam- 

 era,'' zvith 'J 2 illustrations ; "One Season's Game Bag with the Camera," with 70 

 illustrations ; "A Flashlight Story of an Albino Porcupine and of a Cunning but 

 Unfortunate Coon," with 26 illustrations, and "The White Sheep, Giant Moose, 

 and Smaller Game of Kenai Peninsula, Alaska," with 62 illustrations. — Editor. 



IN THE hopeful endeavor to con- 

 tribute an individual share toward 

 the knov^ledge of animal life and 

 perhaps to stimulate that interest by pic- 

 torial representations more appealing 

 than the writer's pen, there are hereafter 

 presented the home life and forms of a 

 number of wild animals, common and 

 rare, some of which wander every night 

 within a stone's throw of nearly every 

 rural home, while others frequent a sanc- 

 tuary offered in some distant wilderness. 



TIIE^ AUTOMATIC CAMKRA IN THE) PICTUR- 

 ING AND STUDY OF ANIMAL LlFl) 



The purpose of this article is to show 

 that a camera and accessories can be so 



arranged that any animal or bird and 

 many a reptile, however large or small, 

 agile or cunning, may have its picture 

 faithfully recorded, during daylight or 

 darkness, without the immediate presence 

 of a human assistant. 



While most birds and daylight-feeding 

 animals, like the elk, caribou, mountain 

 sheep and goat, and small animals, such 

 as the squirrel and woodchuck, present 

 no insurmountable difficulties in photog- 

 raphy, getting a good picture of others is 

 often uncertain or irksome when the 

 game photographer must either await 

 their coming or attempt a near approach. 



In many instances, owing to the noc- 

 turnal character of the animal, the keen- 



