KNIGHTS OF THE CHISEL 



This lunch counter arrangement offers a fine chance 

 to secure photographs of our visitors. The camera 

 does not alarm them much, except Hairy! — so we may 

 set it up on the tripod, focus on the food, and, with all 

 in readiness for an instantaneous exposure, lay the line 

 of thread in through the keyhole or under the window, 

 and watch for a good shot. When the bird is just 

 right, pull the thread. This seems easy, and yet it is 

 surprising how many plates one will spoil. The bird 

 is so seldom still that it is very apt indeed to move just 

 as the shutter opens and give a blurred image. The 

 only way is to keep trying, and some of the pictures 

 will be good. Of course one should do this only on a 

 bright day, and use the fastest kind of plate, with lens 

 wide open and the quickest possible exposure. 



One day I got a particularly interesting picture of a 

 Downy Woodpecker. A female bird was feeding on 

 some suet nailed under a stub. The camera was all 

 ready, and I was about to pull the thread when I noticed 

 a cat sneaking along the path, hoping to spring on the 

 bird. No sooner did Downy espy the great enemy 

 than she set up an excited and angry chirping, and at 

 the same time erected the feathers on the back of her 

 head and neck to a sharp pointed crest. I pulled, and 

 had her in all her glory. Few people, probably, realize 

 that Woodpeckers can become crested, even the kinds 

 which, unlike the Pileated, have no topknot. 



There was little trouble, comparatively, in photo- 

 graphing Downy, but Hairy was quite another proposi- 



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