HOW BIRDS CAN TAKE THEIR OWN PORTRAITS 



By GEORGE SHIRA5, 3rd 



The inventor of flashlight photography of wild animals and birds and of the 

 methods of making animals and birds take their own photographs, and author of 

 numerous artieles in the National Geographic Magazine, as follows: "Photo- 

 graphing Wild Game zvith Flashlight and Camera." with jz illustrations ; "One 

 Season's Game Bag zvith the Camera," with jo illustrations; "A Flashlight Story 

 of an Albino Poreiipine and of a Cu-nning but Unfortunate Coon," with 26 illustra- 

 tions; "The White Sheep, Giant Moose, and Smaller Game of Kenai Peninsula, 

 Alaska," zvith 62 illustrations ; "Wild Animals that Took Their Ozvn Pictures b\ 

 Day and by Night," zvith 6/ illustrations, and "Nature's Transformation at Pan- 

 ama," zvith j6 illustrations and 2 colored maps. 



ANY ANIMAL or bird and many a 

 reptile, however large or small, 

 ^ agile or cunning, may have its 

 picture faithfully recorded during day- 

 light 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 diificulties 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- 

 ness of scent and vision, with the habit 

 of skulking in thick underbrush or oc- 

 cupying points of vantage where no ap- 

 proach can be made, I have usually found 

 it a waste of eii'ort to try to get ]'ictures 

 in the ordinar)' wa\' : for, even if occa- 

 sionally successful, the loss of time can 

 be avoided by the use of the set camera. 



To meet the difficulties of self-photog- 

 raph)' b_v creatures of the forest, I have 

 develoiied methods suitable to the habits 

 of each animal and bird subject. In the 

 main I have used man}^ of the devices of 

 the trapper rather than the hunter, substi- 

 tuting the automatic camera for the trap 

 and using the same baits and scents in 

 favorable localities during the season of 

 the year when success was likel)". 



The greatest immediate pleasure which 

 comes to the camera hunter when, on 

 foot, he can successfulh- stalk, or in a 

 canoe quietl}' paddle up to, a big-game 



animal, and at other times get pictures 

 from the recess of a well-concealed blind, 

 can still be followed while, at the same 

 time, there are secreted in the forest or 

 along the waterways several cameras 

 capable of picturing the living form of 

 many an elusive animal, and that, too, 

 without the loss of time or patience. 



In this branch of photography one 

 should have a fair knowledge of the 

 habits and range of the animal sought ; 

 for while there are many — if they can 

 be located — that will seize almost any 

 kind of bait, regardless of human scent 

 or the appearance of a poorly concealed 

 camera, such as the raccoon, opossum, 

 skunk, muskrat, woodchuck, rabbit, or 

 squirrel ; vet in the case of others, like 

 the beaver, bear, fox, wolf, and deer, one 

 should follow the cautious methods of 

 the trapper when he c-ects a dead-fall, 

 sets a steel trap, or puts out poisoned 

 bait. 



Then, toward the close of the day, 

 when the fading light puts an end to the 

 use of the hand camera, one mav ex- 

 l^ectanth' visit the camera traps, and if 

 the string across the runwav is broken 

 or the bait disturbed, the surroundings 

 should be carefulh- examined for the 

 hoof-marks of a frightened deer or the 

 scratches made by the claws of some 

 carnivorous animal fleeing on the click of 

 the revolving shutter. If, however, no 

 visitor has come, the flashlight machine 

 mav be adjusted and the shutter of the 

 camera reset at a much slower spjcd, so 

 that when some night prowler presses 

 against the string or eagerly [)ulls at the 



