The Western Sandpiper 
approach of these trustful creatures. If the compliment were really 
deserved, the cunning little souls would undoubtedly respond to the most 
familiar advances short of actual handling. Slaughter in the name of 
science may be justifiable, though there be those of us who have passed 
up the solution of many nice problems here; but slaughter of these inno¬ 
cents in the name of sport is mere Philistinism. The Italian method of 
hunting is to shoot everything in sight. As a result, sunny Italy is a bird¬ 
less desert in summer, and a nightmare during migrations. 
Fortunately, the camera is superseding the gun. Pressing the button 
is not only more humane-than shooting; it is more fun. Measured by its 
devices, its strategies, its hopes and fears, its tantalizing failures and its 
crowning triumphs— in other words, by its thrills—bird photography is 
ten times better sport than gunnery. Its trophies, moreover, are perma¬ 
nent and satisfying. In place of an emptied plate and an endless regret, 
the camerist retains a record which delights the eye and ministers to the 
spirit unceasingly. 
X 
im ** 1 ****’ ’> ■ 
- 
; 
Taken in Washington 
Photo by the Author 
A MOMENTARY ALARM 
12^1 
