244 Camera Craft. ^f j|r' 



Camera Craft 



Camera Craft has brought to hght many fine nature studies 

 and subjects; but latterly members have been submitting prints 

 without notes, which always enhance the value of illustrations. 

 One was received without even the photographer's name. The 

 subject was a fine group of Magpies at I'elltrees, X.S.\\'. (See 

 Emu, ante, plate 48). The ])icture was attributed to Mr. H. L. 

 White, instead of to Mr. Sid. VV. Jackson. We regret the 

 mistake. Mr. Jackson's pictures are always welcome. 



Nest of Pink= Breasted Robins — Hearing the distressed cries 

 of a Rfjbin, and the jubilant calls of a vShrike Thrush (Colluri- 

 cincla harmonica sclbii), I ])r()ceeded to the spot, and saw the 

 latter fly from the Robin's nest. Carefully lowering the stick I 

 found the two egi^i^ just smashed, as per photo. — third eg^g being 

 untouched. — Miss J. A. Fletcher, R.A.O.U., Woodbridge, Tas. 



Photographing the Dotterel.— Early in Oct., 1921, I watched, 

 with Mr. Littlejohns, a pair of Black-fronted Dottrels (Cliara- 

 driiis melanops) on a stretch of pebbles at Bendigo, and eventu- 

 ally discovered two young birds. I visited the locality again 

 on 22nd October, and, after a long wait, observed an adult 

 Dotterel near a small pond. 



When 1 api>roached she became very excited and tried to 

 lead me away, but she became quiet when I pretended to fol- 

 low ; so I felt sure her chick was very near. At length I found 

 the little chap, which, from its size, I judged to be not more 

 than 24 hours out of the egg. 



I placed him in the sun, set up the camera two feet away, at- 

 tached 12 feet of cotton to the shutter and waited for the female 

 to approach. When at last she did, I released the .shutter, but, 

 unfortunately, she was too far away to be in focus, and, in ad- 

 dition, was nearly out of the picture. I tried again, but this 

 time she kept away and made sounds like a fly in a match-box. 

 The y(jung one rei)lied in the same way, and, to my surprise, 

 and annoyance stood up and ran after its mother. I had thought 

 it too >oung and too frightened to move. It looked very funny 

 as it ran off and flattened itself out when I chased it. This 

 sort of thing occurred several times. 



When the female bird found that the youngster resj)onded 

 to her calls she kept further away, so I wrapped the young bird 

 in a piece of paper, i)laced it beneath the camera, and focussed 

 on a spot about 18 inches away. This time the mother came 

 clo.ser, and T was able to expose another i)late. 



During vSeptember rmd October of the present year I found 

 the Black-fronted Dotterel again nesting freely along the Bendigo 

 Creek. The Red-kneed Dotterel (Hrv///r<9//(9»i'.v ductus) was there 

 also, and a few nests were found. Photography was a much more 

 sim|)le business at nests of eggs than with the young birds the- 

 previous year, and f was able to obtain pictures of both species. 

 —Marc Coiin, R.A.O.U.. Bendigo, Vic. 



