222 



A M ERICA N ORNITHOL 0G\. 



to his home. Finding 

 everything as usual, 

 he decided to get some 

 worms for his hungry 

 little ones, but not be 

 fore I had pressed the 

 bulb and made one 

 exposure. As 1 had 

 expected this and the 

 three other exposures 

 that I made were so 

 much undertimed that 

 they were not satis- 

 factory. At my next 

 attempt, made several 

 days later, 1 changed 

 CLEANING THE NEST. my plans slightly. 



Finding it rather tiresome climbing the tree to insert a new plate after 

 each exposure, I decided to remain in the tree to watch operations more 

 conveniently. Although I was in the same tree and only about twenty 

 feet from the nest the male Robin paid no attention to me and came to 

 feed the young about every five minutes. From my elevated observatory 

 1 watched developments at the nest for several days, and I doubt if Mr. 

 Robin will ever forgive me, for he had to do all the work while I was 

 about. Although I left the nest for hours at a time with the camera about 

 four feet from it, 1 could not induce the female robin to return although 

 the male showed no hesitation whatever. Of the many photos taken at 

 this nest, four are reproduced herewith. The three smaller pictures were 

 snap shots on a sunny day at four feet distance, and the other was taken 

 on a cloudy day, 

 one-fifth sec. expos- 

 ure, and at a dis- 

 tance of two feet. I 

 have spent many 

 pleasant hours dur- 

 ing the past sum- 

 mer, camped near 

 various bird 

 homes, and can as- 

 sert that there is 

 no more beneficial 

 or instuctive recre- 

 ation open to the 

 American public 

 than this. 



