THE YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO 



my heart from jumping from my mouth while I exposed a twenty- 

 six plate for the fiftieth of a second. Then I took it over at a 

 twenty-fifth, for fear the first exposure might have been short. 

 And there she sat! 



At my feet lay a plate-holder that fits inside my camera. 

 There were more time-plates in it. Should I? With all deliber- 

 ation I turned the camera front toward me, inserted an enlarging 

 lens and turned it back. Then almost breathlessly, if anyone 

 wants excitement! I began walking that tripod toward her. 

 First I would reach through under the camera, and tilting it 

 back a little, set the front leg forward six inches, then each of the 

 side ones in turn. At last I was so close I had to use the extension 

 front almost full-length to get her in focus, but she never flinched 

 as the shining big glass eye came sliding toward her. If she were 

 frightened she gave none of the usual signs, for she crowded no 

 lower in the nest, nor did she plaster her feathers any tighter to 

 her body. She brooded lightly, easily and appeared exactly as 

 she did before the camera ever was placed near her. 



When the first exposure was made the sun was shining brightly. 

 One little spot of light struck the top of her head and another 

 her shoulder. I inserted a second plate, lengthened the exposure 

 and waited as motionless as possible for over fifteen minutes, 

 until a cloud I could see coming up obscured the sun enough to 

 wipe out those spots of light. Then came the exposure I had 

 coveted for years, the picture used as the frontispiece to this 

 book; but my fingers are crowding on the keys of my typewriter 

 in my haste to acknowledge that I owe it entirely, as I owe so 

 many of my best studies, to the kindness of Bob. 



I knew of no way to better that latest exposure, so I inserted a 

 fresh plate, stepped up beside the camera and said to the Cuckoo: 

 " I want a study of your nest showing your big egg now. Won't 

 you leave, girlie?" She made no movement to go. One more 



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