1 88 Photography for the Sportsman Naturalist 



must be quick to catch their image as they rise 

 or soar over our heads, and the exposure must be 

 made the instant that image is caught. 



But cjuickness is the keynote of success in all 

 work with birds. We must be ready to take 

 advantage of every opportunity that is offered 

 and never let a chance to get a photograph 

 escape us. 



The great water-bird rookeries of Florida are 

 the ideal places for bird work. Unfortunately 

 many of these have been nearly wiped out by the 

 feather hunters, but there are still some left, 

 although they are difficult to get at. Since the 

 law causing the traffic in these feathers to be a 

 penal offence has gone into effect, these birds 

 have been steadily on the increase, and I look for 

 those rookeries to be, in time, as numerous and as 

 large as they once were. 



In 1895 I visited one comprised of at least five 

 thousand pairs of breeding birds. This is prob- 

 ably the largest rookery now in Florida and has 

 been undisturbed, owing to the extreme difficulty 

 with which it is approached. Unfortunately for 

 me, at the time I did not have a camera with me, 

 but I could not help seeing the photographic pos- 

 sibilities of the place. Some day I hope to return 

 to it with all the proper outfit, and when I do 

 I shall not be satisfied until I have photographed 

 it thoroughly; and I therefore intend to keep its 



