THE METHODS OF THE BIRD PHOTOGRAPHER 
JLAIMING 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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