BIRD STUDIES WITH A CAMERA 



WITH INTRODUCTORY CHAPTERS ON THE OUTFIT 

 AND METHODS OP THE BIRD PHOTOGRAPHER 



INTRODUCTION 



What is Bird Photographij? — Bird pliotograi)hy, 

 as I would encourage its practice, does not mean 

 simply photographing birds ; it means the use of 

 the camera as an aid in depicting the life histories 

 of birds. A i^icture of the bird itself is, of course, of 

 the first importance, Init any fact in its biography 

 which the camera can be employed to portray is 

 within the province of bird photography. 



The Scientific lvalue of Bird PJiotogrcqdiij. — There 

 are certain matters, such as a bird's song, its time of 

 migration, etc., which must be set forth with the 

 jien ; there are others, such as its haunts, nesting 

 site, nest, eggs, the appearance and development of 

 its young, where the camera is so far ahead of the 

 pen in its power of graphic representation that it 

 is a waste of time to use the former when circum- 

 stances x>erniit the utilization of the latter. 



A photograph of a marsh or wood showing the 

 favorite haunts of a species is worth more than 

 pages of description. A picture of a bird's nest- 

 ing site conveys a better idea of the situation than 

 words can jiossibly give, while in ])lace of such 

 vague phrases as " nest of coarse grasses, weed 

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