Mack Laing's 'Out with the Birds' is returning to print, 112 years after its initial publication.
The Mack Laing Heritage Society of the Comox Valley has announced the re-publication of Laing’s first book, published in 1913 by Outing Publishing of New York, with its original text and photographs, plus the addition of educational notes and a complete Index.
"This is an extraordinary book for a young man," a release from the society says. "When he wrote the book from his field notes, he was a high school teacher and principal at Oakwood School, in Oak Lake, Manitoba. He was already an accomplished and knowledgeable tracker, bird watcher, photographer, outdoorsman and sportsman. He had written some articles for Outing Magazine, a very popular sports and outdoor magazine of its day."
Laing was 30 when the book came out. He had fallen in love with bird watching early in life, and he never lost his fascination with the hobby. Laing kept detailed diaries, and was an accomplished artist, making hundreds of drawings and dozens of full-sized works of them, while writing hundreds of published articles and manuscripts.
‘Out with the Birds’ is written in the first person, and is an engaging compilation of Laing’s many dozens of hikes to Oak Lake in Manitoba and its marshes and streams, a 16 mile (25 km) round trip from the town. His observations of seasonal birds and their songs, habits, appearance, even their predators, make it effectively a field guide, but a very personal and educational one.
Readers also learn something about the man himself, and the historical period in which he lived – and what he feared for his favourite subjects due to human activities, even then. The whooping crane gets special mention.
While he is observing and photographing birds (the camera equipment took some time to set up for every shot), Laing considered himself their protector, as well as their reporter. He carried a rifle, largely against crows, whose curiosity was a danger to his subjects. Otherwise, he was a careful stalker and did his best not to disturb any bird.
He returned to Oak Lake often, even after he left the area, and his handwritten field notes from 1910 to 1937 are in the care of the Manitoba Museum. They are an invaluable resource for biologists seeking historical information about bird species and habitats, and an aid to restoration efforts.
The 2025 reprinting of book itself is the size of a regular paperback. The smaller size, handy for a field guide, was made necessary because the original photographs or glass plates are not available, and were small reproductions in the original book. In 1913, all printing was done with hot type, which required large borders around the text in both books and magazines, and used softer paper than is usual today. The original book is now in the public domain, and has been scanned and digitized.
The photographs in the book, however, were printed on glossy paper, which preserved their quality and made their use possible for this edition. However, many are only 4 cm tall and no more than 10 cm wide, so they could not be enlarged. All needed some digital magic to make them appear as they would have to readers of the day.
Reviewers of the original book praised ‘Out With The Birds’, but commented that due to the number of birds observed, an Index would have been very useful to readers. This edition has addressed that need and provided one for the over 150 birds recorded in this special book. The book is 184 pages long, and is selling for $20. It is available at macklaingsociety.ca/bookstore.
