The practice of photographing birds in Nature is of too recent origin in
this country to permit of its being treated authoritatively. The methods
which may be employed are so numerous, the field to be covered so
limitless, that many years must elapse before the bird photographer’s
outfit will meet his wants, while the constantly varying details which
surround his subjects almost prohibit duplication of experience.
But it is these very difficulties which render all the more imperative
the necessity of conference among workers in this fascinating and
important branch of natural history. The causes of both success and
failure should, through the medium of books and journals, be made
accessible to all, thereby shortening this experimental stage of the
study of birds with a camera, and hastening the day when the nature of
the outfit and methods shall have been settled with more or less
definiteness.
It is as a contribution toward this end, and as a means of answering the
queries of numerous correspondents, that the following pages, embodying
the results of my own experiences, are offered. It is sincerely hoped
that they may increase the interest in the study of birds in Nature, and
at the same time furnish a more profitable and delightful outlet for the
hunting instinct than is afforded by the shotgun or rifle.
A large proportion of the Bird Rock pictures and several of those from
Pelican Island have appeared in the Century and St. Nicholas
respectively, and are here reproduced by the courtesy of the editors of
those magazines; others have been previously published in Bird-Lore.