48 BIRD STUDIES WITH A CAMERA 
a mark even for a bean-shooter, I entered on a new 
phase of Chickadee relations. Strangely enough, 
the killing of the bird seemed, from my point of 
view, to constitute an introduction to a creature 
which before I had known only imperfectly, and 
my acquaintance with the Chickadee may be said 
to have begun when I picked up the first bird that 
fell before my aim. However the Chickadee may 
have regarded my somewhat questionable manner 
of gaining his friendship, he has since given unmis- 
takable evidences of his approval of my treatment 
of his kind. He always replies to my greeting, often 
coming many yards in answer to my call, and on a 
number of occasions he has honored me above most 
men by alghting on my hand. 
When, in more recent years, the gun which suc- 
ceeded the bean-shooter was in turn replaced by a 
camera, I found that the Chickadee’s tameness made 
him a mark for my later as he had been for my 
earlier efforts in bird hunting. Now, however, I 
believe I may speak for him as well as for myself, 
and say that the results obtained are more satisfac- 
tory to us both. It was in Central Park, New York 
city, in February, 1899, that I went on one of my 
first Chickadee hunts with a camera. Incidentally 
the locality gave emphasis to the advantages of the 
camera over any other weapon. Imagine the sur- 
prise of the park police had I ventured on their pre- 
cincts with agun on my shoulder! But with a cam- 
era I could snap away at pleasure without any one’s 
being the wiser—many of my “snaps,” I confess 
being attended by exactly this result. At this time, 
through the efforts of an enthusiastic and patient 
