THE OSPREY. 



59 



He immediately assumed proprietorship 

 foug-ht the obstrusive Sparrows away, and 

 made ready for the arrival of his mate. 

 Alas! The hopes of birds, like those of 

 men, are sometimes blasted. She never 

 came. Nor did he secure another com- 

 panion throug-hout the season. 



Growing- somewhat discourag^ed after 

 the lapse of a week or two, he so far 

 relaxed his preparations for housekeeping 

 and his warfare ag-ainst intruders as to 

 allow a pair of Sparrows to stealthil}- 

 visit the house, with material for the 

 nest. The Wren still carried in an occa- 

 sional stick; but the Sparrows, g-rowing- 

 bolder, soon completed the nest and beg-an 

 eg-g- laying-. Now and then a skirmish 

 took place between the Wren and the 

 male Sparrow, but it became evident that 

 the former, though still a hang-er-on, was 

 no long-er the "Lord of the castle." How- 

 ever, when young- Sparrows were dis- 

 covered in the common liome^ the dejected 



Wren's flag^g-ing- interest in domestic 

 affairs seemed to revive. He at once 

 soug-ht and offered them green worms, 

 which they appeared to devour as greedily 

 as the regulation sparrow-baby food 

 broug-ht them by their parents. And 

 this strang-e partnership housekeeping- 

 continued throughout the summer, while 

 at least three or four successive broods of 

 Sparrows were reared. 



With each renewal of the furnishings, 

 the Wren brought long- sticks, which, 

 with no small labor and with admirable 

 skill, he introduced leng-thwise into the 

 house, and to each hung-ry brood of nest- 

 lings he faithfully carried the soft larvse 

 of insects. 



The autumnal flight indicates an en- 

 couraging increase of Blue birds. It is 

 to be hoped that they will return next 

 spring- in sufficient numbers to re-tenant 

 many a deserted bird house especially con- 

 structed for their occupancy. 



Avian Photography. 



BY DK. R. W. SHUFELDT. 



IN years g-one by, the writer has upon 

 several occasions communicated to 

 The Auk his methods and his successes 

 in the matter of making- photog-raphic 

 pictures of birds. As he looks back upon 

 those times he fully realizes how very 

 crude the first were, and how very seldom 

 the second could be claimed. Recentl}^ 

 however, and especially' during the sum- 

 mer just past (1896), many of the former 

 difficulties were overcome, and where one 

 partial success rewarded a dozen attempts 

 ten years ago, the record has been 

 reversed, and a complete failure is now 

 but rarely the result. Within the last 

 twelve months, throug-h the exercise of a 

 g-reat deal of patience, hard work and 

 study, the list of truly g-ood pictures has 

 rapidly increased, and he feels he is now 

 in ei position to exhibit a few here in sub- 

 stantiation, as it were, of what was 

 merely sugg-ested in his aforesaid "Cam- 

 era Hints to Ornitholog-ists." 



Upwards of twenty species of birds 

 and their nests are now in his collection, 

 many of these are life size, and in some 

 pictures both sexes occur, while in others 

 several of the young are seen. From 

 this series three are selected, representing- 

 averag-e results, and these are here pre- 



sented as examples of what may be 

 accomplished in this line. 



In the first is seen the head of 

 an adult male Turkey Buzzard ( Cat/iar- 

 tcs aura), a picture secured by me from a 

 living- specimen in my possession last 

 spring-. It is taken upon direct latteral 

 view and distinctly exhibits all the char- 

 acters of the species seen upon this aspect. 

 The pervious nostrils are well shown, as 

 well as the elevated rim that entirely 

 surrounds the superior margin of either 

 one of them. This character, so evident 

 in life, is never reproduced in mounted 

 specimens of this bird, as it really ought 

 to be, and this stricture applies with 

 equal truth to the transverse wrinkles on 

 the top of the head, and below the hinder 

 division of the jaw, so well seen in the 

 accompanying picture. Beneath and 

 in front of the eye, are to be observed the 

 peculiar wart}' caruncles, another one of 

 the features of the face of this Vulture, 

 and the set of the eye is likewise charac- 

 teristic. Turkey Buzzards are by no 

 means easy subjects for the photographer 

 for several reasons. If an exposure of a 

 number of seconds is contemplated, a 

 good result will frequently be defeated 

 by the nearly imperceptible movements 



