176 



THE OOLOGIST. 



variety of sets, to tritie with pictures. 

 The botany so inipoitaut, is neglected, 

 and the datas are too brief in some 

 eases to b»' interesting or of mueh 

 value. 



There are but few nest.'; in reach of 

 man, Avhich aie out of reach of photo- 

 graphy. Time will prove this asser- 

 tion. Years will work wonders with 

 our coml>iued efl'orts. 



We can spare neither time nor space 

 to mention the numerous modes of 

 securing pictures of the great variety of 

 nests in all sorts of places, for each nest 

 needs a little different treatment. 



As "a starter," will mention a few. 

 Some nests of Woodpeckers will yield 

 l^eautiful results hy removing a portion 

 of the wood on one side so as to show 

 the eggs. For such purposes you need 

 a sort of tripod platform for the camera 

 which can be fastened by means of 

 nails driven into the tree. A view^ of 

 the tree from a near stand-point is good 

 if the nest is not too high to show plain- 

 ly. In this case the nest must not be 

 tampered with, and if one bird coidd 

 be also taken in, it would add greatly 

 to the value of the picture. For very 

 large nests out of reach of camera or 

 any mount, a full view of the tree is 

 extienely interesting. I- have no 

 troulde in getting views of the nests of 

 Hawks at a distance of from ten to 

 twenty-live feet, for most of our Hawks 

 nest in the lower liranchcs of small 

 trees. Among my little collection of 

 pictures I find a photo, of a large tree 

 containing eleven nests of the Great 

 Blue Heron taken while on a photo- 

 graphic tour last June, which is very 

 interesting. 



Nests placed on, or suspended from 

 small hranclies out of reacli of tlic 

 camera or a ready mountant, will, if 

 artistically arranged yield beautiful 

 results. Proceed as follows: After 

 liaving removed the eggs, if any, sevei- 

 the ])ranches holding the nest, at least 

 twelve inches from it, tie them togetlier 



at the butts to prevent their catching 

 and tearing the nest. If tightly woven 

 it maj' be thrown down; otherwise it 

 must be carried. Suspend the nest by 

 string or rope before a suitable back- 

 ground. Not the painted affair; but 

 nature's back-ground, imitating as 

 much as possible its former surround- 

 ings. If done skillfully, who will know 

 wlietlier it was photographed from a 

 baloon or from the ground. 



Nests placed on, or in the f<jrks of, 

 large limbs may sometimes be photo- 

 graphed from suita1)le limbs; but gener- 

 ally will have to be moved to a more 

 convenient place. Photos, of nests 

 which have been removed from their 

 resting places, are of but little value in 

 the study of nesting sites; but their 

 beauty compares with, if not excells 

 those taken under less favorable con- 

 ditions. 



Always allow tin; light to fall freely 

 on the nest and use as small a stop as 

 the lens will use without showing cen" 

 tral spot; that 3'our picture may be 

 sharp and well detined. Some writers 

 recommend large stops which I lind 

 very imsatisfactory at close range (one 

 to four feet.) Others say "do not at- 

 tempt pictures on a cloudy day." I 

 agree with them in a few respects: Dis- 

 tant and instantaneous views. 1 never 

 wait for a fair day, to take a picture of 

 a nest at close range and can show^ 

 some tine {)ictures taken on stormy 

 days, with a little breeze thrown in. 



On such days I use a little larger stop 

 and vary the exposure to suit the sub- 

 ject; no rule can be given; j-ou must 

 use your own judgment to suit the 

 situation of your subject and the rap- 

 idity' of j'our lens. 



As a tinal remark I wish to mention 

 a queer nesting site, which can un- 

 doubtedly be attributed to 1)otanical or 

 climatic influences. 



During a sketching i-amble the latter 

 part of June, 1886, I discovered a nest 

 of tiie Orch:ird Oriole containing four 



