PHOTOGRAPHING NESTS AND EGGS 51 



though I happened to be moving. With some other 

 birds I have had more or less success, and with others, 

 such as the chewinks, red-winged blackbirds, and yel- 

 low-breasted chats, I have so far had nothing but failure. 

 In order to secure young birds at the time they 

 are ready to leave their nest, it is necessary to watch 

 them carefully, remembering that the young of dif- 

 ferent birds leave the nest at very different stages 

 of development. For example, young grouse, quail, 

 and woodcock leave almost immediately after coming 

 from the eggs, just as a chicken does. Ground-birds, 

 such as field-sparrows, bobolinks, etc., usually leave 

 before they can fly at all, some starting off when but 

 eight days old. Birds whose nests are at some distance 

 from the ground seldom leave until their wings 

 are fairly well developed; for the smaller birds the 

 age is about twelve days. Chickadees and wood- 

 peckers and others whose nests are in holes in trees 

 are well developed at the time of leaving. So it 

 will be seen that in order to know when to expect 

 the young to leave you must know something of the 

 bird and its habits. It is also well to remember 

 what has already been said, that if you attempt to 

 remove a young bird from its nest when it is within 

 a day or two of being ready to leave, it will often 

 refuse to go back even though it is not sufficiently 

 developed to risk itself away from its home. It is 

 very doubtful whether such birds often survive. 



