Haunts.—Photographs of the characteristic haunts of birds should show not alone general topography, but should also be made with special reference to the bird’s feeding habits, which, more than anything else, govern the nature of the locality selected. Thus, a photograph of the home of the Woodcock would have added value if, in the immediate foreground, the “borings” made by this bird in probing the earth for food were evident; or a marsh scene, in which wild rice was conspicuous, would tell something of both the haunts and the food habits of the Reedbird and Red-winged Blackbird in August and September. In a similar way, pictures of wild cherry and dogwood trees, of bayberries and red cedar, which show both fruit and surroundings, are of interest in connection with the biographies of many birds.
8. Spring.
9. Summer.
Seasons.—The camera permits us to make so exact a record of the rise and fall of the year, as it is registered by vegetation, that we can actually compare existing conditions with those which prevailed at any previous time. Compare, for example, the series of four pictures[8]–[11] here presented, all made from the same point of view, in order to appreciate how graphically seasonal changes may be shown by the camera. In this instance, photography is of more service to the botanist than to the ornithologist; but every student of migration knows how closely related are the appearance of certain birds and flowers, and will readily appreciate, therefore, the value of a series of photographs of several different subjects, taken at short intervals, and showing the changes in vegetation due to the approach of summer or winter. In connection with such related phenomena as temperature, rainfall, and weather, these pictures form as accurate a record of the seasons as it is possible to make, and if data of this kind could be brought together from many selected localities, we should have an admirable basis for the intelligent study of certain phases of bird migration.
10. Autumn.
Nests and Eggs.—The photographing of nests is one of the simpler forms of bird photography, but in many instances success is achieved only through the exercise of much patience and ingenuity.
