BIRDS OF OUR BUSH 



with photographically. Some few birds may be relied 

 upon to give little trouble ; but by far the greater number 

 are pictured only as a result of considerable scheming and 

 planning. The point directly overlooked by the bright eye 

 of the camera is, as a rule, studiously avoided until such 

 time as the subject either becomes accustomed to its pre- 

 sence, or realizes that there is no way of avoiding its stare. 

 If the camera be trained on the nest itself, there is little 

 to be done except to wait patiently and quietly. If, how- 

 ever, a position apart from the nest be selected as the perch 

 for the bird, it is often possible to hasten success by resort- 

 ing to dodges such as those we here mention. Perhaps the 

 most successful plan known to us is to remove all pro- 

 minent points in the vicinity other than the one selected, 

 or, if that cannot be done without undue interference with 

 the surroundings, to render such points unusable by cover- 

 ing them temporarily with leaves, paper, or anything else 

 handy. It should be seen, however, that nothing unnatural 

 appears in the picture. 



When young birds out of the nest are used as 

 decoys, a little judicious shifting of their position will 

 often have the effect of bringing the bird eventually 

 to the right spot. We have found, too, that our subject 

 often dislikes any long flight necessary to bring it to the 

 chosen point, probably from the fact that it is not so well 

 able to turn about should it become timid. If a stick or 

 other handy natural object or objects be placed so as to 

 lead by easy stages to the correct position, the wily sitter, 

 feeling a sense of safety in its ability to turn back at any 

 moment, will probably approach closer and closer by these 

 stages until, satisfied by close inspection as to the harmless- 

 ness of the apparatus, it will hop unconcernedly across the 

 short intervening space. 



The position which the bird itself occupies at the time 

 the plate is exposed is also a very important item. Very 

 few presentable pictures will be obtained at short range if 

 exposures are made in haphazard style directly the bird 

 appears on the selected perch. The photographer must 

 endeavour to carry in his mind the exact position of the 

 dummy on which he focussed, and must restrain his hand 

 until the bird occupies that position. He has also very 

 often to remember that he is viewing the subject at a 

 different angle from that at which the camera views it, and 



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