502 
bird live hope to ap- 
proach that goal less 
easily ? And where are 
his models ? In the trees, 
in the bushes, in swamps, 
on lake and stream, on 
the ocean, and in the 
air ; out of doors. Wild 
and elusive models, and 
just so much more diffi- 
cult to photograph on 
the mind of the observer. 
Patience and eternal 
striving may hope for a 
reward. 
It would seem obvi- 
ous that to make a bird 
look as nearly alive as 
possible when stuffed 
(and this is art) adds 
much to the scientific 
value of the specimen. 
N evertheless, if we are to 
judge by the overwhelm- 
ing majority of results, almost any bird 
reasonably smooth, and not on the face 
Little Blue Heron. 
Ardca cccrulca (Linn.)- 
(Intermediate Plumage.) 
of it grotesque, is good 
enough in the eyes of 
most curators to show to 
the public what this or 
that bird is like. Again, 
the reasons are not ob- 
scure. Quantity seems 
to overshadow quality in 
the minds of those who 
have charge of amassing 
collections. 
The conventional T- 
shaped perch on which 
all perching birds are 
placed, or the painted or 
varnished board that 
suffices as a stand for 
such birds as habitually 
walk on the ground or 
swim on the water, have 
made neaiiy impossible 
a faithful life-like repro- 
duction. Recognizing 
this, in recent years there 
have been attempts, and some very suc- 
cessful, to reproduce the natural environ- 
ment of the birds exhibited. These are 
often very attractive and instructive, but 
generally overwhelming. The frame has 
become gi'eater than the portrait. The 
bird, so environed, is in many cases the 
same conventional, stiff, even grotesque 
acquaintance, who suggests strongly in 
his new surroundings the long rows of T- 
shaped perches on overcrowded shelves. 
Composition in a picture is fundamental , 
and in a portrait it hardly seems good art 
to overshadow the central thought, the 
individual, by a too detailed background. 
Perhaps it may be hazarded here that sug- 
gestions of en\’ironment are all that we 
can hope to present, and that often a 
single twig, a bit of grass land, a hint of 
sandy beach, marsh, river, or ocean, will 
convey to the public an idea of the life- 
habits of this or that bird, leaving the 
bird the great central figure, not over- 
shadowed by an entire limb with all its 
leaves, or an elaborated section of land- 
scape. Suggestions of impressions from 
nature, not portrayals of its infinite de- 
tails, should be the aim. 
To the worker the advice is ventured — 
beware of the photograph. The camera 
sees what you do not. If you attempt to 
copy its results, the end attained will not 
Bird Pictures 
American Robin. 
Mertda Du'gyatoria (Lin>i.)- 
