68 Pictures of Bird Life 



they came with food. This fact once ascertained, it was 

 comparatively easy to pli()tot>i'apli tliem from the slielter 

 of a busli not many yards away. On one sucli occasion 

 an extra lart»'e montliful was plainly visible in tlie he'dk of 

 the bird, but not until the plate was developed did 1 guess 

 the natm^e of it. It proved to be a large beetle — a most 

 indigestible-looking morsel for nestlings ; but I suppose the 

 bird might be trusted to know its own business best. 



Another pair became very tame, finding by experience 

 tliat I was not dangerous, and I made a series of exposures 

 eventually at a distance of not more than two yards in the 

 open, without any attempt at concealment, Tlie cock ^^'as 

 in this case nnich the bolder, contrary to my usual 

 experience. So tame did he get, that eventually he Mould 

 come and sit, just in front of the camera, on different 

 twigs stuck in the ground for the purpose ; and I finished 

 up by photograj^hing him as he sat on the handle-bar of 

 my bicycle. 



For these photographs I used the latest development of 

 camera for this work — vh. a tele-photo lens and a short 

 reflecting camera, mounted on a gun-stock. This is a 

 much handier weapon tlian a camera on a tripod in 

 following a bird about in its movements from place to 

 place and from twig to twig. AMien using the tripod 

 in photographing a moving object at short distance, the 

 readiest way is to place the jioint of one tripod leg — tlie 

 back one — on the toe of your boot. Then, by moving your 

 foot backwards and forwards, the camera can be raised and 



