THE METHODS OF THE BIRD PHOTOGRAPHER 



^" 



LAIMING no special knowle<lyo of 



the technique of pure jihotogra- 

 pliy, I would refer the beginner to 

 any (if 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 suggesti(_)ns are given here, therefore, as 

 relate directly to tlie manner in which birds, their 

 nests, eggs, and haunts may be i)hotogra.phed. 



Hcnint.s. — Photographs of the characteristic 

 haunts of birds shouhl show not alone general to- 

 pography, but should also lie made with special ref- 

 erence to the bird's feeding ha.l)its, 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 ])ird 

 in ])robing the earth for food were evident; or a 

 marsh scene, in wliich wild rice was conspicuous, 

 would tell something of both the haunts and the 

 food habits of the Reedbird and Red-winged Bhi(d<- 

 Ihrd ill August and Septendier. In a simihir way, 

 ]iictures of wilil (dierry and dogwood trees, of bay- 

 IjerTies and rrd ceilai', which show both fruit and 

 20 



