Method of Bird Study and Photography 33 



camera, an important consideration, since the prolonged action 

 of the sun is liable to spring a leak in the bellows. As to the 

 portability and general convenience of the tent I shall speak 

 elsewhere. 



With notebook in hand you can sit in your tent, and see and 

 record everything which transpires at the nest, the mode of 

 approach, the kind of food brought, the varied 

 activities of the old and young, the visits of intruders, Adva **^* 

 and their combats with the owners of the nest, the Method 

 capture of prey which sometimes goes on under your 

 eye. No better position could be chosen for hearing the songs, 

 responsive calls, and alarm notes of the birds. You can thus 

 gather materials for an exact and minute history of life at the 

 nest, and of the behavior of birds during this important period. 

 More than this, you can photograph the birds at will, under the 

 most perfect conditions, recording what no naturalist has ever 

 seen, and what no artist could ever hope to portray. The birds 

 come and go close to your eye, but unconscious of being observed. 



I have watched the Night Hawk feed her chick with fireflies 

 barely fifteen inches from my hand, the Kingfisher carrying live 

 fish to its brood whose muffled rattles issued from their sub- 

 terranean gallery a few feet away. When near enough to count 

 her respirations accurately, I have seen the Redwing Blackbird 

 leave her nest on a hot day, hop down to the cool water of the 

 swamp, and after taking a sip, bathe in full view, within reach 

 of the hand; then, shaking the water from her plumage, she 

 would return refreshed to the nest. I have seen the male 

 Kingbird come to his nesting bough with feathers drenched from 

 his midday bath in the river, the Orioles flash their brilliant 

 colors all day long before the eye, and Chestnut-sided Warblers 

 become so tame after several days that the female would allow 

 you to approach and stroke her back with the hand. Again, 

 when camping on an island by the shore, I have seen the Tern, 

 on coming to her nest, an egg of which had exploded during her 

 absence, the heat of the midday sun being more than it could 

 stand, bend over, insert her lower mandible in the blow-hole, 

 and, gradually lifting the heavy egg in her bill, bear it slowly 



