INTRODUCTION 3 



from Funk Island, taken during the period of its 

 existence tliere ! 



Of what surpassing interest woukl be jilioto- 

 graphs of the former flights of Wild Pigeijns, wliicli 

 the younger generations of to-day can with dilii- 

 culty believe occi;rred ! 



The Charm of Bird Photography. — As a one- 

 time sportsman, who yielded to none in his enj\)y- 

 ment of the chase, I can affirm that there is a fasci- 

 nation about the hunting of wild animals with, a 

 camera as far ahead of the pjleasure to be derived 

 from their pursuit with shotgun or rifle as the sport 

 found in shooting Quail is beyond that of lireaking 

 clay " Pigeons." Continuing the comparison, from a 

 sportsman's standpoint, hunting with a camera is 

 the highest development of man's inherent love of 

 the chase. 



The killing of a bird with a gun seems little 

 short of murder after one has attemi)ted to cap- 

 ture its image with a lens. The demands on the 

 skill and patience of the bird photographer are end- 

 less, and his pleasure is intensified in propiirtion 

 to the nature of the difficulties to be overcome, and 

 in the event of success it is perpetuated by the infi- 

 nitely more satisfactory results obtained. He does 

 not rejoice over a bag of mutilated flesh and feath- 

 ers, 1)ut in the possession of a trophy— an eloquent 

 t(.iken of his prowess as a hunter, a talisman whicli 

 holds the power r>f revivifying the circumstances 

 attending its acquisition. 



What mental vision of falling birds can be as 

 potent as the actual picture of living birds in their 

 homes ? And how immeasurably one's memories are 



