THE ESTUARY 137 



an anthill or some other eminence, in an upstanding- 

 position. 



Larks and Pipits are among the most difficult birds 

 to photograph ; one never knows where to expect them, 

 and with the camera placed almost on the ground, as it 

 must be, the grasses and such-like vegetation which 

 intervene between the bird and the lens make the task 

 no easy one. It took me a long time to obtain the 

 photograph which is here reproduced of this bird, and it 

 was only after a great amount of trouble that I was able 

 to secure it. We spent I should think quite two hours 

 on our knees driving the bird very gently towards an 

 anthill, the top of which I had focussed with my camera ; 

 there were many other anthills round about, and the 

 bird naturally chose these in preference to the one on 

 which it was desired he should take his stand. Again 

 and again he made as though he would run on to the 

 mound, but always thought better of it, and ran past it 

 on to another, while the slightest hurry or quick move- 

 ment on our part and he flew away. At length, by 

 driving him from two different positions and letting him 

 take his own time, he placed himself in position, with 

 the result shown. Very occasionally these birds will 

 perch on a low bush, but they are thorough ground birds. 



There were many species of Larks to be found on 

 the dryer parts of the large island, amongst which 

 the Rufus-capped Lark was very plentiful, while a Pipit 

 that we found breeding was the Cinnamon-backed Pipit. 

 This bird is, I believe, well distributed over the Colony, 

 but we did not see much of it ; perhaps, being of an 

 unattractive plumage, and resembling more or less many 

 of the Larks, we may not have noticed it. 



