P E E F A C E 



The practice of pliotographing birds in Nature 

 is of too recent origin in this country to permit of 

 its being treated autlioritatively. The metliods 

 wbicb may be employed are so numerous, the field 

 to be covered so limitless, that many years must 

 elapse before the bird photographer's outfit will 

 meet his wants, while the constantly varying details 

 which surround his subjects almost prohibit dupli- 

 cation of experience. 



But it is these very difficulties which render all 

 the more imperative the necessity of conference 

 among workers in this fascinating and imjiortant 

 branch of natural history. The causes of both 

 success and failure should, through the medium of 

 books and journals, be made accessible to all, there- 

 by shortening this experimental stage of the study 

 of birds with a camera, and hastening the day when 

 the nature of the outfit and methods shall have been 

 settled with more or less definiteness. 



It is as a contribution toward this end, and as a 

 means of answering the queries of numerous corre- 

 spondents, that the following pages, embodying the 

 results of my own experiences, are offered. It is 

 sincerely hoped that they may increase the interest 



