igo 



Bird - Lore 



was very little light, and the wind blew a gale. I had to use a hand-camera at 

 double extension working at //14, and no exposure under i-ioo of a second 

 was possible. Yet the results were worth while, seeing that no photograph 

 of this species had ever been secured previously. 



The Nightingale (Lucinia megarhyncha megarhyncha) hovering over his 

 mate is another case in point. I wanted this particular expression of emotion 

 on the part of the male bird. During the first two days after the young were 

 hatched he did all the feeding, and whenever he brought food he hovered for 

 an instant over the nest, rapidly quivering his wings and fanning his tail, 

 meanwhile uttering notes so soft and sweet that they seemed a mere long- 

 drawn sigh, expressive of absolute and utter content. The nest was placed 

 amidst dense foliage in a dark corner, and something above half a second's 

 exposure was necessary in order to secure an image of any kind on a flash- 

 light plate. Out of twenty-four plates exposed on this one attitude, only one 

 succeeded in reproducing it. 



Because the bird itself is more to me than any photograph, I seldom use 

 long-distance tubing, and never electric releases. Sit near your subject if you 

 wish to experience real joy, you will at least learn something, and if a picture is 

 unattainable one day fortune may favor you the next. 



I have said nothing about apparatus in this article, as the scientific outfit 

 is the same for either sex, and information with regard to that is easily obtained 

 from any bird photographer. I am now reduced to two cameras; a quarter- 

 plate 'Birdland' Reflex, and a half-plate camera which was made to order. 

 The use of the one or the other depends largely on the distance to be traversed 

 and the kind of picture I wish to secure. Where the focus of my subject is 

 more or less stationary, I use the half-plate stand camera. If movement 

 is the thing I am aiming at, the reflex is of course ideal; but, if I were begin- 

 ning all over again, I should most certainly work with autochromes. 



