PREFACE 
THE practice of photographing birds in Nature 
is of too recent origin in this country to permit of 
its being treated authoritatively. The methods 
which may be employed are so numerous, the field 
to be covered so limitless, that many years must 
elapse before the bird photographer’s outfit will 
meet his wants, while the constantly varying details 
which surround his subjects almost prohibit dupli- 
cation of experience. 
But it is these very difficulties which render all 
the more imperative the necessity of conference 
among workers in this fascinating and important 
branch of natural history. The causes of both 
success and failure should, through the medium of 
books and journals, be made accessible to all, there- 
by shortening this experimental stage of the study 
of birds with a camera, and hastening the day when 
the nature of the outfit and methods shall have been 
settled with more or less definiteness. 
It is as a contribution toward this end, and as a 
means of answering the queries of numerous corre- 
spondents, that the following pages, embodying the 
results of my own experiences, are offered. It is 
sincerely hoped that they may increase the interest 
Vil 
