i88 WITH THE U. S. NATURALISTS 



giving him advice as to the use of the camera. At 

 last, having quite made up his mind that he had the 

 right distance, the right aperture, and the right 

 exposure, and that the tripod was level, he clicked 

 the shutter. If all went well, his first photograph 

 of birds ' eggs was made. 



Was the Mother Bird watching and listening? 

 Shan could not tell. At all events, he thought, 

 she would not know what the sound meant. He 

 turned his roll of fihn so as to be ready for another 

 picture. Then he sat down on a crotch of branch 

 he had arranged in the blind for a seat, and waited. 



Presently he heard the liquid little questioning, 



'^Quirtr' 



The Mother Thrush was returning. 



Again he heard the cry, close to him and right 

 over his head. The bird was perched on the 

 brushwood near by, evidently not at ease in her 

 mind about the blind. Shan resisted the tempta- 

 tion of twisting round for a look at her, knowing 

 that the keenness of a bird's hearing is only a 

 little less marvelous than that of its sight. 



Woodpeckers, he knew, locate grubs under the 

 bark of a tree by hearing them gnaw, Robins on a 

 lawn seem to listen for the crawling of worms 

 underground and the hearing of Owls is so ex- 



