Bird Pictures 
501 
Blackburn’s Warbler. 
American Sparrow-hawk. 
Dendroica blackbuniiie (Gniel.). 
Fnlco sparveriHS (Linn.). 
workers themselves some of the causes for 
much that is bad in this art, for art it is. 
They have been, largely of their own fault, 
mechanics, and treated as such. Poorly 
paid, the love of their work has often been 
their chief reward ; the stipend of the best 
has rarely reached the wages of a good 
carpenter or ma- 
son. If working 
for a boss they 
have been required 
to turn out about 
so much result per 
diem, and he, tak- 
ing this canary or 
that hawk to stuff 
at so much a head, 
from a commercial 
stand-point, must 
protect himself and 
is really not to be 
blamed. Painters 
and sculptors are 
paid as the world 
appraises their ef- 
forts, and the plea 
here is that art 
work in attempting 
to reproduce life- 
like birds can only 
be attained when it 
ceases to be looked 
upon and treated as 
mechanical work, 
so and so many 
pieces to be turned 
out in a given time. 
Whether they go properly before or 
after this view of the subject, two great 
and vital reasons for the bad results exist- 
ing are to be found in the lack of general 
knowledge and special training. To con- 
sider the first of these requisites, it seems 
to the writer that general and wide knowl- 
edge and cultiva- 
tion is fundamen- 
tal to all good art. 
The mechanic, the 
craftsman, the ar- 
tist is each so much 
greater for it ; so 
much more able to 
see, to discrimi- 
nate, to execute, to 
convey to the mind 
of others the im- 
pression of his 
senses through the 
work of his hands. 
The other factor 
is special training. 
Great painters 
serve for years 
learning to draw 
and color, to see, 
to observe, to dis- 
criminate, to exe- 
cute. Constant 
study of live mod- 
els is indispensable 
to the great sculp- 
tor or figure paint- 
er. Does the man 
who is to make the 
Ward’s Heron. 
Ardea wardi (Ridgiv.). 
