330 Bird - Lore 



little recreation or perhaps to find something for herself. When, in a minute 

 or two, they returned, the female would go on the nest and the male would 

 take the hidden food for himself. 



I rigged up one of my oars as a scaffold for my camera and on the fifth day 

 I decided to try for some pictures. As the opening was on the north side of the 

 stump, I planned to make the exposures in the early morning when a little 

 sunlight filtered through the needles of the pines and played upon the hole. 

 By the time I had my camera focused and a thread attached for operating the 

 shutter, small clouds were scurrying across the sky and the light was very 

 uncertain. After a short wait the female returned to the stump but was 

 frightened and flew away, but came again in a minute and I made the exposure 

 which shows her near the nest-hole, moving head first down the stump. I 

 waited until she went on her nest and then stole up to wind another film into 

 position, but the slight noise of my approach frightened her and she came off 

 with a rush. On her return I attempted to snap her as she entered, but so 

 quick were her movements that she was half way in the hole before the shutter 

 clicked, and the resulting picture was a puzzle to everyone. I was eager to 

 catch the male feeding her but he would not come near the camera, so when 

 I had an opportunity to snap her coming out, I pulled the thread and got the 

 best picture of the three. I waited patiently in hopes of getting the two to- 

 gether, but the clouds grew thicker and I was forced to give up for the day. 

 I felt sure of success on some other day, but for all the rest of the time I was 

 encamped the sun was in hiding and I did not get the picture I wanted most. 



On the last day in camp I removed a section of the outer wall of the stump 

 and inspected the nest. The eggs had hatched two days before and the five 

 babies were still very tiny. The hollow was quite roomy at the bottom, and 

 all cracks and holes had been stuffed with fine bark. The nest was made of 

 fine bark and lined with the wings of the pine seeds. Two other openings in 

 the stump were evidently previous attempts at home-building but for some 

 reason had been abandoned. Without doubt the occupied hole was excavated 

 by the birds themselves as the work was fresh and was clearly the work of a 

 bird's beak. Before I left I replaced the chip I had removed and fastened it 

 firmly in place. 



