FEATHERED GEMS 



one I recently found two nests with young. I set up 

 my camera by one, which was built only four feet from 

 the ground, and, after decking the instrument and 

 tripod with bushes and lying in wait a few rods off with 

 a thread, I was able to make exposures when one or 

 other of the parents came with food for the nestlings. 

 One of these pictures shows the male tucking a fly into 

 a widely opened mouth. 



Another bush-nester is the familiar and interesting 

 Chestnut-sided Warbler. This one prefers dry scrub 

 land, brier patches, and the like. The nest is less 

 ornate than that of the Yellow Warbler and is placed 

 habitually lower down, seldom more than waist high, 

 whereas the other often builds above one's head. I 

 usually find the nest by plunging through the bushes, 

 thrashing about at random with a switch. If I happen 

 to pass near, the little bird flies out and there is the nest 

 concealed from above in the foliage. Chestnut-side is 

 a tame, confiding little fellow, an easy bird to photo- 

 graph. I have set up the camera close to a nest, con- 

 cealing it by drawing bushes around it and trimming 

 it with leaves and boughs. After no more than rea- 

 sonable hesitation, the pretty warbler hopped back into 

 the nest, and, after standing there a moment to take 

 in the situation, settled down to incubate. Then I pulled 

 the thread and "got" my unhurt quarry. It would fly 

 off, and when it returned I took it before it settled 

 down. After a few such incidents, it would pay no 

 further attention to the click of the shutter, and would 



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