372 Kansas Academy of Science. 



mitted the cross-bar to swing around parallel to the upright when 

 the tent was folded. The tent proper, all in one piece with a series 

 of openings in a vertical row a little to the left side of the middle 

 of the front end, had four stout cords attached to it at the points 

 where the ends of the cross-bars supported it. By means of these 

 and four stout pegs the tent was securely guyed down to the ground. 

 The four corners of the tent itself were fastened to the ground with 

 long wire pins, and one of the rear corners was left open for ingress 

 and egress. This worked well when pitched in the shade, but when 

 in the open field in a July sun I found it necessary to cover the 

 tent with a heavy woolen blanket to keep out the heat. 



This plan has been denounced by some, who insist that the re- 

 sults obtained are unnatural — a misrepresentation of the facts in 

 bird life. They maintain that the nest should never be moved from 

 the place where it was constructed — that all photographs should 

 represent natural conditions. Those who raise these objections do 

 not hesitate, however, to remove leaves and twigs or push aside 

 weeds and grass, or even to lop off branches, that they may obtain 

 an unobstructed view of the nest in its "natural situation." Re- 

 moval of the nest, with or without the nesting bough, is an inter- 

 ference with the natural conditions most certainly, but so also is a 

 removal of twigs and branches or whatever else may obstruct a 

 view of the nest. The whole thing is a question of degree of in- 

 terference, and I have never found a nest yet with which I could 

 work without interfering more or less with its natural surroundings. 

 This much is true, however, that the home life of birds whose nest 

 has been changed from its original position is as natural when they 

 become accustomed to their new surroundings, which usually re- 

 quires but a short time, as is the life of those birds whose nest has 

 never been disturbed. 



Whether the nest be moved or not it is necessary to have full 

 Bunlight upon it and the nestlings, and I have frequently found it 

 necessary to devise an artificial shade of branches to protect the 

 little birds from the withering heat of the sun. This shade was 

 controlled by a string from within the tent and was pulled aside 

 when the old birds came to the nest. It is never wise to meddle 

 with a nest when the nestlings are quite young, either to expose 

 the nest to the direct rays of the sun or to move it. The heat of 

 the direct rays of a summer sun will soon prove fatal to very young 

 birds, and the attachment of the parent birds may not be sufficiently 

 strong at this stage to induce them to follow the nest. With half- 

 fledged birds there is but little danger of the old birds abandoning 



