Bird - Lore 



a support for the camera. The magnets should come directly under the shut- 

 ter, so that the pull will come straight down. The wire loop is hung over the 

 shaft and the rubbers drawn down tight and fastened. The thread should 

 just reach from the wire to the release on the shutter. When the current is 

 passed, the shaft will be drawn from the loop and the rubber bands will pull 



the wire down, instantly releas- 

 ing the shutter. 



With this apparatus a bird 

 may be snapped in any position 

 it assumes. It acts instantly, 

 and a speed of one fiftieth of a 

 second will be fast enough for 

 any that moves only at the 

 stroke of the armature. In 

 some cases a slower speed may 

 be used. With a lens working 

 at f./4.5, it is possible to get 



^ «^ "^T^J.flfi'-'-^l / - 'j/i^?^ ^^^^ negatives in cloudy 

 hjBif '•7 ^^ r^^^jjfi «^^^ weather and without motion, 



PjP' tr* 1 l^^i'k^^lfc oITt r ^y setting the shutter for a 



slow-instantaneous exposure. It 

 will require some time to find 

 just the speed that is slightly 

 faster than the reaction period 

 of the bird. 



At the present time, I have 

 seven of these electrical releases, 

 with all the necessary push- 

 buttons in one window. Four 

 of them are about one hundred 

 feet from the window near feed- 

 ing-stations. One is set near a 

 tree into which a hole was 

 bored and suet placed for Wood- 

 peckers, Nuthatches, Chickadees, and Brown Creepers. These birds have 

 been photographed many times, but the station is still kept up for them as 

 well as for some uncommon bird that may come. There is a chance that the 

 Red-breasted Nuthatch, Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker, or some other desir- 

 able stranger, may be the next visitor. 



The second camera is placed near a horizontal limb bored out and nailed 

 to a post. This limb is filled with various seeds such as hemp, millet, rape, 

 and canary. Seed-eating birds will be attracted to this place. Among those 

 that come to this particular station are Juncos, Song Sparrows, Towhees, Cow- 



hairy WOODPECKER 



