40 THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 
the surface of his subject; perhaps he is beginning to learn the method— 
the proper procedure. 
No artist, however clever, can sit in his studio and make paintings 
unless he has his subject before him. ‘The bird-artist would find it very 
difficult to bring alive into his studio all the various subjects he might wish 
to paint, and if he could, most of them would not act natural. Studies 
from captive or tame birds or even wounded specimens are not to be ignored, 
but to make pictures of birds as they appear in nature in normal and char- 
acteristic attitudes necessitates close study in the field. 
Securing cicse studies of birds in the field is not always without difh- 
culty, however. Many birds are easily approached and show little concern 
at the proximity of a human being. Often one is able to follow a bird 
around at close range and jot down several outline drawings of the same 
individual. Again, he may make use of the “squeak” or imitations of 
various owl calls to entice certain species up within a few feet of his hiding 
place and succeed in holding them there long enough to make sketches. 
On the other hand, there are many birds which are too shy to approach 
and which will not respond to any call. “These must be studied with field 
glasses, careful study through the glasses being alternated with quick 
memory sketches on a pad to get the correct position, outline and _ pro- 
portions of the subject. 
The greatest convenience to bird-artist, however, is the blind 
used so often by the bird photographer. Almost any of the water-fowl 
and waders so dificult of approach by boat or afoot, may be comfortably 
viewed from a blind concealed in the reeds at the edge of a lake or on a 
mud-flat. he great advantage of the blind lies in the fact that the birds 
are entirely oblivious of human presence and will come within a few feet 
of the observer, their actions unrestrained and normal; furthermore, the 
artist may be fairly comfortable while he sketches, inasmuch as he can 
move freely without fear of frightening the birds. Last spring, Mr. Frank 
Schmidt of the Wisconsin Conservation Commission invited me to use the 
blind he had erected on the courting grounds of Pinnated and Sharptail 
Grouse. Seated comfortably with my watercolor box at my side, I was 
able to make not only pencil sketches but color notes of these magnificent 
birds as they displayed before me. Some of the birds came within four 
feet of the window of the blind and on several occasions even alighted 
on the roof. When the Grouse were not present, other opportunities pre- 
sented themselves—Horned Larks, Savannah and Vesper Sparrows, Flick- 
ers, Robins and Blackbirds were frequent visitors to the vicinity of the blind. 
Supplementary to the sketches made of living birds are various studies 
of the fresh specimens made as soon after death as possible. Of chief im- 
portance here are color records of the eyes, lid, bill, feet, nuchal pouches 
