FRIENDS IN FEATHERS 



by glossy leaves, flowers and the nest and eggs, if they are of light 

 colour. 



Nature revels in strong contrasts of light and shade, sweet and 

 sour, colour and form. The whole value of a natural-history 

 picture lies in reproducing atmosphere, which tells the story 

 of outdoor work, together with the soft high lights and velvet 

 shadows which repaint the woods as we are accustomed to seeing 

 them. It is not a question of timing; on nests and surroundings 

 all the time wanted can be had; on young and grown birds, 

 in motion, snap shots must be resorted to; but frequently, with 

 them, more time than is required may be given. It is a question 

 of whether you desire to reproduce nature and procure a natural- 

 history picture, or whether you are going to insert a back- 

 ground and make a sort of flat Japanese, two-tone, wash effect, 

 suitable only for decoration, never to reproduce nature. 



Also in working around nests when the mother bird is brood- 

 ing, the idea is, or should be, to make your study and go away 

 speedily. This is a most excellent reason from the bird's side 

 of the case as to why a background never should be introduced. 

 In the first place, if you work over a nest until the eggs become 

 chilled the bird deserts them; so a brood is destroyed. On fully 

 half the nests you will wish to reproduce, a background could not 

 be inserted without so cutting and tearing out foliage as to 

 drive the bird to desert; to let in light and sunshine, causing her 

 to suffer from heat, and to expose her location until she becomes 

 prey to every thoughtless passer. The birds have a right to be 

 left exactly as you find them. 



It is a good idea when working on nests of young birds, where 

 you have hidden cameras in the hope of securing pictures of the 

 old, and must wait some time for them to come, to remember 

 that nestlings are accustomed to being fed every ten or fifteen 

 minutes, and even oftener. If you keep the old ones away long, 



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