176 HOW TO STUDY BIRDS 



for a timid bird may not be injured by rain. Such a 

 cloth also is very much needed when one is caught in 

 a shower to cover things up. The rubber-washed 

 ones soon get leaky, yet two leaking ones afford con- 

 siderable protection. 



A very important piece of apparatus is something 

 with which to fasten the smaller camera in a tree, or 

 on a ladder or building. A shawl-strap arrangement 

 can be used in many cases, though it seems to me 

 rather cumbersome and liable to slip. The best ar- 

 rangement I know of, and which I use, is a very sim- 

 ple one devised by an ornithologist, the Rev. P. B. 

 Peabody. It is in two parts, the first of which con- 

 sists of an ordinary carriage-bolt about a foot long, 

 with a screw at one end, bent in the middle at right 

 angles. At the end opposite the screw should be 

 glued a pad made by wrapping leather about the last 

 two inches of the shank. 



The other part is what is known as a camera bi- 

 cycle-clamp, a ball and socket arrangement. In the 

 metal ball a tripod-screw is inserted which screws into 

 the camera. The clamp grips the ball and also 

 clamps around the bicycle handle or any other rod. 

 In using the instrument the screw-bolt is driven into 

 the tree firmly, and the ball and socket, with the cam- 

 era, is made to grip the pad at the end of the rod. 

 Further details as to its use will be given presently. 



In connection with this arrangement one also needs 

 a " goose-neck " device to use on the camera, so as 

 to be able to point the latter at any angle up or down. 



