THE LURE OF FIELD WORK 59 



ladders to one of the high telegraph poles of a city 

 and fastening my camera on the opposite side of 

 the pole slightly above the highest ladder; then by 

 having a small boy climb the closest tree and tie 

 back a branch, I could obtain a fine focus on the 

 oriole's nest. For each picture I made in a long 

 series I was compelled to climb those ladders to 

 change the plates and reset the shutter. 



On another occasion two men erected a platform 

 for me level with the nest of a scarlet tanager, high 

 among the branches of an extremely tall tree. 

 The structure was so frail that it waved with every 

 breath of wind and bent under my weight, but, as 

 with the ladder, I was compelled to mount it in 

 order to change plates every time I made an ex- 

 posure with a long hose and bulb from a hidden 

 location. 



Sometimes I have worked in deep, dark woods 

 where it was necessary to cut down a number of 

 trees and bushes in order to obtain sufficient light 

 for instantaneous exposure; again I have worked 

 on embankments in the scorching suns of June and 

 July without a trace of shelter. I have waded in 

 swamps and braved the quicksands of lake shores, 

 at times having mired until it was utterly impos- 

 sible for me to extricate myself. I vividly recall 

 one day at a lake near Silver Lake, in northern 

 Indiana, when I entered the water shortly before 

 nine o'clock in the morning and did not leave it 

 until half past four in the afternoon, with the ex- 



