358 
ease in his home he may 
operate the camera on his 
lawn, securing the family 
portraits of the chipping 
sparrow or robin, but he must 
also be prepared to remain 
for hours motionless and 
noiseless, in a cramped posi- 
tion, hidden in his blind in 
the woods, while the heat 
seems to be rapidly convert- 
ing him into liquid lard, flies 
promenade over his nose, and 
myriads of mosquitoes hold 
family reunions and festivals 
on his defenseless person, 
and the bird whose portrait 
is so earnestly coveted tan- 
talizingly meditates just out- 
side of the camera’s range. 
He must be prepared to try, 
day after day, for a satisfactory photograph of some sub- 
ject that seems ever to just elude him, and to search 
in vain for a nest of some species that the ‘‘other fellow” 
got a fine photograph of. 
One June the writer found a nest 
of the scarlet tanager, and the bet- 
ter part of four afternoons was 
spent in trying to secure a photo of 
the bird on the nest, but she frus- 
trated every effort. 
Hunting with the gun has ex- 
terminated the buffalo, the great 
auk, Labrador duck, and has al- 
most exterminated most of the 
larger four-footed game, and many 
of the birds. It has robbed pos- 
terity of just that much, and has 
left the hunter richer in nothing 
but memories, which can hardly be 
altogether pleasant. Hunting with 
the camera destroys nothing, and 
leaves the hunter perpetual trophies 
of scientific and esthetic value, 
gives him the most healthful diver- 
sion, and insures delightful memo- 
ries. Ihe time must come when 
for hunting the camera largely, if 
not entirely, replaces the gun. 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
Camera with long tube and bicycle pump for photographing 
birds on nests 
Ball-and-socket clamp for attaching the camera 
to a limb of a tree 
September, 1909 
Do not, however, imagine 
that, with the prevalency of 
camera hunting there will be 
developed the same sort of 
“sport” as obtains with gun 
shooting. I can not but think 
that, with the gun, there is 
a certain delight in the act of 
killing. It is indeed fortu- 
nate that nothing of the kind 
can arise in camera hunting. 
The camera hunter will have 
for his reward not the sense 
of bloodshed and life extin- 
guished, but the reward of 
achievement. And this 
achievement must, in many 
cases, and certainly for very 
years to come, be unique and 
original in a very striking 
and wonderful manner. 
Bird life, and indeed all animal life, is still largely un- 
photographed. ‘This means that its most intimate phases 
are utterly unknown to us. 
The camera thus opens up a 
marvelous field for adventure and 
discovery which would seem well 
nigh inexhaustible. 
And can it be pretended that 
there is not interest, and a world of 
interest, in the opportunity thus of- 
fered the sportsman? A new kind 
of sportsman, it is true, but a very 
real one, nevertheless, who will go 
out into Nature’s wilds, into the 
fields and forests, and bring back to 
his study and his friends permanent 
records of bird life of unending in- 
terest and amazing novelty. Surely 
there is “sport” in work of this 
kind, just as there is value. 
So much the future has in store 
for us in work of this description. 
Work that is a pleasure and work 
that is helpful too. Already much 
progress has been made in the art 
of bird photography and many in- 
teresting and valuable facts have 
been discovered. But there is still 
much to do, much to learn, much to 
ascertain. ‘The camera hunter has 
the whole world before him. 
