164 METHODS OF ATTRACTING BIRDS 



come and go before his presence was detected. It 

 was only by keeping the camera set up for hours 

 at a time and keeping unremitting watch of the 

 shelf that any pictures were secured. The author 

 would hardly dare to tell the number of hours 

 spent in securing pictures of the creeper and 

 downy woodpecker. 



As a means of securing pictures of tree-trunk 

 birds in their natural position, a branch of an old 

 apple tree was attached vertically to one side of 

 the window and a piece of suet nailed to the 

 branch, all other food being removed from the 

 trough. In this way pictures were secured of the 

 downy and the creeper, the white-breasted nut- 

 hatch and the chickadee. The first two sidled their 

 way up the branch to the suet, and just as the 

 shutter was pulled, the former dodged his head 

 into his own shadow, and the creeper zigzagged 

 at the last moment away from the suet instead of 

 toward it, thus blurring the picture a little. The 

 nuthatch climbed up above the suet, and then, 

 turning around in his characteristic position, head 

 downward, pecked at it; while the chickadee 

 alighted with both feet on the suet, and partook 

 of the feast in any position that pleased his 

 fancy at the moment. 



