38 BIRD STUDIES WITH A CAMERA 



veniently vituperate the poor unoffending little 

 bunch of feathers with its staring yellow eyes. The 

 camera is then focused on the scolding perch and 

 the photographer retires into the undergrowth, and, 

 bulb in hand, waits for some bird to take the desired 

 stand. 



A Catbird's domain is chosen for the reason that 

 this species is the alarmist of whatever neighbor- 

 hood it may inhabit, and once its attention has been 

 attracted to the Owl by "squeaking" or uttering 

 the alarm notes of other birds, the photographer 

 may subside and let the Catbird do the rest. 



The bird's rage is remarkable, its fear painful. 

 Should the Owl be near to the Catbird's nest it will 

 utter notes in a tone of voice I have never heard 

 it use on other occasions. It loses all fear of the 

 camera, and from the scolding perch screams at the 

 Owl with a vehemence which threatens to crack its 

 throat. One is glad to remove the offending cause. 



Other birds in the vicinity are of course at- 

 tracted, and hasten to learn the meaning of the 

 uproar. Often a bit of undergrowth, of which the 

 Catbird was apparently the only feathered tenant, 

 will be found to possess a large bird population. It 

 is interesting to observe the difference in the actions 

 of various birds as they learn the reason of the dis- 

 turbance. On the whole, each species displays its 

 characteristic disposition in a somewhat accentuated 

 manner. The Blue-winged Warblers flit to and fro 

 for a few moments and then are gone ; the Chestnut- 

 sided Warbler is quite anxious ; the Maryland Yel- 

 low-throat somewhat annoyed ; the Ovenbird decid- 

 edly concerned ; the Towhee bustles about, but 



