74 



Pictures of Bird Life 



the iip-turned eartli for worms, and afterwards it will as 

 certainly sit on the liandle of tlie spade. If a camera be left, 

 focussed on tlie handle, and a long string or tube be fitted to 

 the shutter, you may get a photograph of it, provided the 

 shutter is a noiseless one, otherwise the result will be failure. 

 The first time I tried it, the Robin did all I expected of it ; but 

 although the shutter Avas set about the twentieth or thirtieth 

 part of a second, five exposures only secured me five photo- 

 graphs of an empty spade-handle. This will gi\e an idea 

 of the lightning quickness of a birds movements ; at the 

 click of the shutter it had hopped off quickly enough to 

 avoid being taken. 



The Nightingale is a very abundant species, much more 

 so than people in general seem to imagine. On their first 

 arrival, before pairing, and also after the young are hatched, 

 these birds make a curious croaking noise, like so many 



I'iKD Wagtail i^Motacilla lui^nbns). 



