198 



THE OOLOGLST. 



;iud a slij;-ht niixliiit' of downy willow 

 catkins with a lining of the same. It 

 proves to be eonsidenibly^ sinaller than 

 That of the yotiug pair and is deeper. 

 Diameter, outside, 3.25 x 2.80. Deptii, 

 outside, 0.25; inside, 2.75 inches. One 

 curious thing al)OUt this nest is the 

 weaving, in fact, it is not woven at all 

 on the longest sides, merely cross 

 thatched most of the straws being fast- 

 ened near the l)rim of the nest at its 

 shortest sides. 



Another nest of an old pair, and of 

 which I have a photograph, is now l)e- 

 fore me and measures as follows: 



Extreme diameter, outside, 4 inches; 

 inside, 3.25. Diameter at Ijrim, outside, 

 2.75; inside 1.50. Depth, outside, 4 

 inches; inside, 2.75. It was securely 

 fastened to several l^rauches of an ash 

 tree within six fett of the ground, and 

 July 4th contained four eggs. 



The picture shows the form of the 

 nest and its situation, aud where a 

 band of straws were woven around it 

 after it was nearly finished, to make 

 it more secure. It is globular in form 

 and composed of the same material as 

 the last, but a rather {.'oarser selection. 

 Did it ever occur to you that it was 

 possible to photograph a bird while it 

 was constructing a nest or excavating a 

 hole as Woodpecikers, Sapsuckers and 

 some other birds do? _.' Nevertheless it 

 is much easier than yon would sup- 

 pose. 



It is possible to catch the Oriole 

 weaving in those tangled threads, shap- 

 ing that beautiful specimen of bird art, 

 that cradle for their young. It is pos- 

 sible to catch the Woodpecker chiseling 

 away at that hole while ciiugiug to the 

 tree, or as it stops and listens. It is 

 possible to picture the wren as it fills 

 up the crevice of some decaying tree, 

 bearing in those heavy twigs which 

 seem so large for a little bird to carry, 

 or peeping out to see that there is no 

 intruder about. It is possible to hide a 

 camera whei*e man could not hide with- 



out being discovered, and take a pic- 

 ture when you are rods away. It is 

 possible to set the camera in the tree- 

 top and take a picture with it while 

 standing on the ground. All these and 

 hundreds of other methods are possible 

 if your lenses and camera are suited to 

 the work. 



For instantaneous pictures at close 

 and medium ranges you need rapid 

 rectilinear, or a portrait lens, but for 

 time exposures at close range a single 

 lens is undoubtedly the best. 



Trusting it will interest you, I will 

 endeavor to describe a contrivance of 

 my own construction, a tree tripod in 

 fact, which will securely hold the cam- 

 era to any tree of reasonable dimen- 

 tions, or to anj- accessible limbs, enabl- 

 ing me to secure pictures, which could 

 not otherwise be taken to show plainly*, 

 if at all. The top consists of three 

 pieces of three-seventeenths-inch black 

 walnut, each measuring 6x7 inches; 

 two cut lengthwise and one crosswise 

 of the grain, the latter being placed in 

 the center to pre\ent warping. In the 

 center of these a hole was bored tu ad- 

 mit the tripod screw for fastening the 

 camera. Tlie three legs; one measur- 

 ing 52 and the other two 48 inches in 

 length, were worked from an oak slab, 

 and measui'e at tlie larger end 1^ xj 

 inches, tapering to about f x | of an 

 inch, except the longest which is large 

 enough to admit a metal point. This 

 leg is affixed to the top of the center of 

 one of the long .sides and near its edge, 

 allowing it to swing back like the cover 

 to a chest. The other legs are beveled 

 off for about 4 inches at the larger end 

 to bring them out of the lenses range, 

 and are fastened at the center of the 

 shortest sides about an inch from their 

 edges, with very small bolts. These 

 bolts being at least two inches from the 

 ends of tlie legs to make them more 

 rigid. 



The legs are independent of each 

 otlun- and will make complete circles if 



