THE METHODS OF THE BIRD PHOTOGRAPHER 



L AIMING no special knowledge of 

 the technique of pure photogra- 

 phy, I would refer the beginner to 

 any of the several excellent books 

 designed to explain the rudiments 

 of optical and chemical photogra- 

 phy, and to instruct in regard to 

 the matters of exposing, developing, printing, etc. 

 Only such suggestions are given here, therefore, as 

 relate directly to the manner in which birds, their 

 nests, eggs, and haunts may be photographed. 



Haunts. — Photographs of the characteristic 

 haunts of birds should show not alone general to- 

 pography, but should also be made with special ref- 

 erence to the bird's feeding habits, which, more than 

 anything else, govern the nature of the locality 

 selected. Thus, a photograph of the home of the 

 Woodcock would have added value if, in the imme- 

 diate foreground, the "borings" made by this bird 

 in probing the earth for food were evident; or a 

 marsh scene, in which wild rice was conspicuous, 

 would tell something of both the haunts and the 

 food habits of the Reedbird and Red- winged Black- 

 bird in August and September. In a similar way, 

 pictures of wild cherry and dogwood trees, of bay- 

 berries and red cedar, which show both fruit and 

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