Bird Studies With a Camera

Part 1

BIRD STUDIES WITH A CAMERA

BIRD STUDIES WITH A CAMERA WITH INTRODUCTORY CHAPTERS ON THE OUTFIT AND METHODS OF THE BIRD PHOTOGRAPHER

BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN

ASSISTANT CURATOR OF VERTEBRATE ZOÖLOGY IN THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, AND AUTHOR OF HANDBOOK OF BIRDS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA, BIRD-LIFE, ETC.

WITH OVER ONE HUNDRED PHOTOGRAPHS FROM NATURE, BY THE AUTHOR

NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1900

COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN.

All rights reserved.

THIS BOOK

IS DEDICATED TO

MY WIFE,

WHO, BOTH AT HOME AND AFIELD, IS EVER

“MY BEST ASSISTANT.”

You have learnt from the Birds and continue to learn, Your best benefactors and early instructors. FRERE’S Aristophanes.

PREFACE

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.

FRANK M. CHAPMAN.

AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, NEW YORK CITY, March, 1900.

CONTENTS

PAGE INTRODUCTION 1 What is bird photography?—The scientific value of bird photography—The charm of bird photography.

THE OUTFIT AND METHODS OF THE BIRD PHOTOGRAPHER THE BIRD PHOTOGRAPHER’S OUTFIT 6 The camera—The lens—The shutter—The tripod—Plates—Blinds—Sundries. THE METHODS OF THE BIRD PHOTOGRAPHER 26 Haunts—Seasons—Nests and eggs—Young birds—Adult birds.

BIRD STUDIES WITH A CAMERA BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY BEGINS AT HOME 40 THE CHICKADEE—A STUDY IN BLACK AND WHITE 47 THE LEAST BITTERN AND SOME OTHER REED INHABITANTS 62 TWO HERONS 76 WHERE SWALLOWS ROOST 89 TWO DAYS WITH THE TERNS 106 PERCÉ AND BONAVENTURE 128 THE MAGDALENS 146 BIRD ROCK 152 LIFE ON PELICAN ISLAND, WITH SOME SPECULATIONS ON THE ORIGIN OF BIRD MIGRATION 191

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE 1. Gannet, Murres, Puffins, and Razorbilled Auks Frontispiece Tailpiece. Young Baltimore Oriole 5 Initial. Long-focus camera and telephoto lens 6 2. Lens test No. 1 14 3. Enlargement of the bird in test No. 1 15 4. Lens test No. 2 16 5. Enlargement of bird in test No. 2 17 6. Lens test No. 3 18 7. Enlargement of bird in test No. 3 19 Initial. Young Great-crested Flycatcher 26 8. Spring 27 9. Summer 27 10. Autumn 28 11. Winter—four pictures (Nos. 8–11) from the same point of view 28 12. Nest locality of five species 29 13. Nesting site, nest, and young of Marsh Hawk 30 14. Young Marsh Hawks and nest 31 15. Young Great-crested Flycatcher 32 16. Young Baltimore Orioles and nest 33 17. Wood Thrush on nest 34 18. Chestnut-sided Warbler on nest 35 19. Catbird scolding 37 Initial. “Fairview” 40 20. House Sparrows and Junco 41 21. Junco 42 22. Female House Sparrow and nest 43 23. Screech Owl 44 Initial. Chickadee 47 24. Chickadee on ground 49 25. Chickadee taking piece of bread 50 26. A bird in the hand 51 27. Chickadee at nest hole 54 28. Chickadee at nest hole 55 29. A Chickadee family 58 30. A Chickadee family 59 Initial. Red-winged Blackbird 62 31. Least Bittern’s nesting site 64 32. Least Bittern’s nest and eggs 66 33. Least Bittern mimicking surroundings 67 34. Least Bittern mimicking surroundings 68 35. Young Red-winged Blackbirds 71 36. Least Bittern eating her eggs 73 37. Least Bittern on nest 74 Initial. Where the Night Herons feed 76 38. Five Night Herons’ nests in swamp maple 79 39. A view in the Heron rookery 80 40. Night Heron feeding 81 41. Young Night Herons in nest 82 42. Young Night Herons leaving nest 83 43. Young Night Herons on branches 84 44. Great Blue Heron, nests and young 88 Initial. Tree Swallows on wires 89 45. Hackensack marshes in August 91 46. Marsh mallows 93 47. Wild rice 94 48. Tree Swallows on wires 97 49. Tree Swallows in tree 100 50. Tree Swallows on wire and at pile 102 51. Swallows in the road 104 Initial. A corner of Penikese 106 52. Nesting site, nest, and three eggs of Common Tern 110 53. Tern hovering above nest 111 54. Nest and eggs of Tern on upland 112 55. Tern’s nest and eggs in drift débris 113 56. Young Tern hiding on rocky beach 114 57. Young Tern hiding in the grass 115 58. Tern alighting on nest 116 59. Tern on hillside nest 117 60. Tern’s nest and hatching eggs in seaweed 118 61. Tern about to feed young 119 62. Tern brooding young 120 63. Tern on beach nest 121 64. Tern on beach nest 121 65. Tern on upland nest 122 66. Young Terns about four days old 123 67. Young Tern about a week old 124 68. Young Tern, second plumage appearing 124 69. Young Tern, further advance of second plumage 125 70. Young Tern, stage before flight 126 Initial. A Percé codfisher 128 71. Percé Rock from the north 131 72. Percé Rock from the southeast 134 73. Splitting cod on Percé beach 136 74. Young Savanna Sparrow 137 75. Gannet cliffs of Bonaventure 140 76. Cornel or bunchberry 142 77. A ledge of nesting Gannets 144 Initial. Grosse Isle 146 78. Nest and eggs of Fox Sparrow 148 79. Young Guillemots 150 Initial. The Bird Rock light 152 80. Bird Rock from the southwest 153 81. North side of Bird Rock 156 82. A corner of the Rock 160 83. The landing at the base of the Rock 164 84. The landing on top of the Rock 165 85. Kittiwakes and young on nests 168 86. The lighthouse, keeper’s dwelling, and other buildings 169 87. Razorbilled Auks and “Ringed” Murre 170 88. Puffins 172 89. Murre’s egg 174 90. Young Murres and egg 175 91. Kittiwakes and young on nests 176 92. Entrance to Puffin’s burrow 177 93. Puffin’s nest and egg 178 94. Young Puffin on nest 179 95. Leach’s Petrel on nest 180 96. Young Leach’s Petrel with nesting material 181 97. Young Gannet 182 98. Gannets 183 99. Gannets on nests 186 100. Gannet on nest 188 Initial. Young Pelicans in nest tree 191 101. Pelicans on ground nests 197 102. Interviewing a group of young Pelicans 198 103. Among the Pelicans 199 104. Head and pouch of Pelican 200 105. Pelican’s pouch from above 201 106. Newly hatched Pelicans and nests 206 107. Young Pelican in tree nest 208 108. Young Pelican, downy stage 209 109. Young Pelican, wing quills appearing 211 110. Young Pelicans, stage preceding flight 212

BIRD STUDIES WITH A CAMERA

Part 2

WITH INTRODUCTORY CHAPTERS ON THE OUTFIT AND METHODS OF THE BIRD PHOTOGRAPHER

INTRODUCTION

What is Bird Photography?—Bird photography, as I would encourage its practice, does not mean simply photographing birds; it means the use of the camera as an aid in depicting the life histories of birds. A picture of the bird itself is, of course, of the first importance, but any fact in its biography which the camera can be employed to portray is within the province of bird photography.

The Scientific Value of Bird Photography.—There are certain matters, such as a bird’s song, its time of migration, etc., which must be set forth with the pen; there are others, such as its haunts, nesting site, nest, eggs, the appearance and development of its young, where the camera is so far ahead of the pen in its power of graphic representation that it is a waste of time to use the former when circumstances permit the utilization of the latter.

A photograph of a marsh or wood showing the favorite haunts of a species is worth more than pages of description. A picture of a bird’s nesting site conveys a better idea of the situation than words can possibly give, while in place of such vague phrases as “nest of coarse grasses, weed stalks, rootlets, etc., lined with finer materials,” we have a faithful delineation of the nest itself. The shape and pattern of markings of the eggs may also be well shown with the camera, while the appearance of the young at birth, their development, and often the manner in which they are fed, may all be portrayed by the camera with a realism which convinces one of the truthfulness of the result.

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