110 HOMING WITH THE BIRDS 



experiment of seeing how close I could approach 

 and found to my surprise that the bird was unable 

 to fly. I could pick him up in my hands. He did 

 not exhibit the least sign of fear, so I put him back 

 on the bush and left him in what could be consid- 

 ered nothing less than a state of intoxication, 

 which I could have reproduced even more inti- 

 mately than in the pictures I had secured if I had 

 known that he was past flight before using my last 

 plate. 



Previously, I had one experience with wild 

 creatures becoming intoxicated, when, in order to 

 get more light on my subject, Mr. Black trimmed 

 the lower branches of a young crab tree while the 

 sap was still running. The liquid quickly fer- 

 mented in the hot spring sunshine. Soon the 

 trunk was covered with butterflies, moths, bees, 

 ants, and flies, all of them becoming rapidly in- 

 toxicated. This occurrence happened early in my 

 field work with a camera and was both pictured 

 and described in my first nature story. I have 

 frequently been told that our robins and other 

 Northern birds become intoxicated on fermenting 

 fruit and berries during their stay in the South, 

 getting themselves into such a soiled and repulsive 

 condition that people have small compunction 

 about shooting them to reduce their numbers. 



During my experiences afield I have met with 

 several instances of isolated birds not supposed 

 to belong to my territory. Early in my work 



