BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY 5 



tripod screw. Into this portable cage the bird was 

 to be put, and as there was only one perch — usually 

 a stick or small branch of convenient shape and 

 size — I fondly imagined that the bird would sit 

 pretty nearly where I wished. But I was doomed 

 to disappointment. When I put the bird in, any 

 place and every place suited him better than the 

 perch so carefully arranged for his special comfort. 

 When a bird, no matter how tame he may be, is 

 placed amid new and unusual surroundings, he is 

 at first greatly frightened, and therefore quite 

 unmanageable. It usually requires some time to 

 prove to him that the new cage will not harm him. 

 So I found my cage not altogether a success, but 

 by patience I managed to obtain some satisfactory 

 photographs. 



The Sport of Photographing Wild Birds 



It was not long before I was led to attempt the 

 task of photographing the adult bird in its wild 

 state and in its natural surroundings. It was then 

 I began to appreciate the fascination of the work. 

 Looked at from any one of several standpoints, 

 the photographing of wild birds will be found 

 equally satisfactory. As a sport it should take a 

 high place, for undoubtedly the skill as well as the 

 perseverance and the instinct of the hunter is a 

 necessary requirement, and a successful shot with 

 the camera is far more difficult to obtain than a 

 correspondingly fortunate (on one side only) shot 

 from a gun. Then, too, the accomplishment of 

 one's desire leaves behind it no disagreeable taste 



