Dec. 1889.] 



AXD OOLOGIST. 



18 L 



positions. It gives one a true idea of the 

 bird's motion and characteristics peculiar each 

 to itself. One has a sure thing on identifica- 

 tion in the field, collecting nests, leaving no 

 doubts of the species to be settled by the gun. 



Some tliere are who may say, '' But you can't 

 get close enough to always do that." Take 

 time, just as you would to hunt or watch the 

 bird in the case of your wanting to know what 

 it is. I have yet to see the nest or bird in the 

 bush tliat a true collector's wits, of Nature's 

 facts, could not get within five or ten feet of 

 his object long enough to spring a shot on his 

 sensitive plate. 



As shy a little bird as the Hummers are, I 

 have liad my face witliin ten inches of the bird 

 on the nest; the same with many Sparrow's, 

 Finclies, Warblers, and even the timid Fly- 

 catchers. I well remember the time I took a 

 grand negative of "the Farallone Cormorants, 

 on one of my never-to-be-forgotten trips. How 

 I set up my camera within five feet of them! 

 Only four or five birds left the nests; they soon 

 came back after circling several times over- 

 head, and finally settling down on the edges of 

 the nests, others covering the eggs at once, 

 even picking the weeds from one another's 

 homes to place on their own, — a habit pecu- 

 liar to the Cormorants. I found while tending 

 the duties of incubation, in another plate of 

 Western Gulls, they would walk around the 

 nest, I suppose to see if it was in trim for "'hav- 

 ing their picture took," like a country lass. 



I use for general work of this character a 

 medium plate, not too quick in its action, for 

 a better success is had in handling tlie devel- 

 opment of it. 



Detective cameras can be had now all the 

 way from ten to a hundred dollars or more. I 

 will give a description of mine for the benefit 

 of the O. i& O. readers. Cost complete with 

 one double plate-holder, So7.-")0 (made to order), 

 and I would not give it for the best hundred 

 dollar outfit in the market. It is made of Span- 

 ish cedar, polished, S% inches in height, same 

 in depth, 6% wide, a focus range of 2% inches 

 (outside of that is always in focus, a distance 

 indicator marked off from .3 to 2.5 feet; outside 

 of 2."> feet is in focus on everything. Two field- 

 finders, one for uprights. The shutter works 

 in the lens, regulated for any desired time by 

 a set of five notches (can be set for time ex- 

 posure). The sliding cap over the lens when 

 moved for exposure opens the finder at the 

 same time, and on seeing the image on the 

 finder, you know your lens is open ready for 

 the snap of the shutter. Maker of lens, R. D. 



Gray, N". Y., Periscop No. 3, diaphragms are a 

 revolving disk set in the lens next to the shut- 

 ter. Carries two double holders for plates, 

 and only weighs four pounds complete. Has 

 a removable back to take out in case of indoor 

 work. The lens front board lets down on 

 hinges, so if anything gets out of order it can 

 soon be remedied. I have wandered often 

 from my subject, but hope it may have been 

 of interest to the reader, and may be the 

 means of drawing others out to give their ex- 

 periences in this new field of hunting with 

 something besides a noisy gun. 



W. Otto Emerfton. 

 Fruit Glen, Haywards, Cal., Oct., 188!). 



Nesting of the Blue-gray Gnat-catcher 

 at Raleigh, N. C. 



The Blue-gray Gnat-catcher (Po?/o/*///a enem- 

 lea) is quite a common summer visitm* about 

 here, frequenting the woodlands and orchards, 

 but most abundant in the willows and other 

 growth along streams. This year, as usual, 

 the first specimens appeared the last week in 

 March, and by the 5th of April the species was 

 present in summer numbers. 



They did not let the grass grow under their 

 feet when they got here, but after laying out 

 their summer plans and looking up the fash- 

 ionable localities, they went to work in good 

 earnest. The first nest observed was one just 

 started, on April 12th, and by the 20th the bulk 

 of the species were engaged on their nests. A 

 cold spell lasting five or six days from the 13th 

 to the 18th, set back some of them in their 

 operations, but others kept bravely on with 

 their work in spite of the biting winds. Both 

 sexes helped in the building, the female doing 

 most of the work, however. 



Green moss, fine grass, fibres, and other fine 

 material, firmly bound together with cobwebs 

 and ornamented with an exterior coat of gray 

 lichen, are the usual materials employed in 

 making the nest. The actions of the bird 

 when binding cobwebs in a suitable fork to 

 form the foundation are most amusing. The 

 bird sticks her head under the fork, and 

 winds and twists the cobwebs about any pro- 

 jections there may be present, until it looks as 

 if she would twist her head off. 



■The nest is usually placed in the fork 

 of a moderately slender lateral limb of some 

 tree, and there is also a disposition on the part 

 of the birds to choose a fork near the end of a 

 limb, so that when a good sized tree is chosen 



