Camera Studies of Wild Birds in Their Homes

Two hundred photographs of living wild birds, made when bird photography was new and hard — Chester Reed in the blind, the marsh and the treetop, telling how each picture was got.

This site is the complete 1911 book Camera Studies with Wild Birds, page by page as originally printed — period spelling, remedies and opinions included. About this edition →

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Chester a. Reed, B. S

Author of "Land Birds," "Water Birds," "Flower Guide," "Nature Studies," North American Birds' Eggs," etc.

Chas. K. Reed

Copyrighted 1911 Chas. K. Reed, Worcester, Mass.

Air Scouts

2 pages

Blue Skies and Blue Birds

Bluebird (10 illustrations) Blue Jay (7 illustrations) Hummingbird (4 illustrations) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (1 illustration) 65 69 75 75 82…

Favorite Songsters

3 pages

Only Sparrows

"Oh, I only saw a Robin, a Bluebird and a lot of sparrows!" I have heard similar expressions many a time. It is amazing to find what a very…

The Gleaners

2 pages

Feathered Tyrants

2 pages

How Bird Photographs Are Made

Very few persons as they look at pictures in magazines or in books ever give an instant's thought as to the time, the patience or perhaps…

The Chickadee

2 pages

White-Breasted Nuthatch

Here is an acrobat worthy of notice. Apparently in defiance of all laws of gravity, he nimbly runs down tree trunks head-foremost, with…

Chimney Swift

One of the most useful of these scouts is a "city dweller." Chimney Swifts at one time nested only in hollow trees and in caves or crevices…

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Highlights

The Ovenbird

In early morning, during spring and summer, the woodland resounds with the loud, vibrant songs of Ovenbirds…

The Bluebird

A sweet melodious warble, a flash of the brightest of blue and there upon the decayed end of an apple bough, sits one of our very…

Red-Headed Woodpecker

This species is one of the most beautiful of woodpeckers. The black, the white, and the red are distributed in such large…

Black and White Warbler

Woodpeckers are very expert at climbing up trees; Nuthatches are equally expert at clambering down. Black and White Warblers or…

Red-Eyed Vireo

Bringing with them the good cheer of the south, Redeyed Vireos return to northern United States about the middle of May. They are…

California Bush-Tit

These little birds rank next to the hummingbirds as being the smallest birds found in our country. Diminutive as they are, being…

Curious Facts

17 genuinely curious things this book actually says, each linked to its page.

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Rights & ReuseThe complete text of Camera Studies with Wild Birds (1911) is in the public domain in the United States — like all works published before 1928 — and is free to read, download, quote, teach from, and reuse. This digital edition (its transcription, restored images, and site design) is © 2026 PhotoOpAI, and any editorial commentary we add is clearly marked as ours; the underlying public-domain text carries no such restriction.