68 Wild Birds 



For photographing inaccessible nests, and birds which pose 

 well but are unapproachable under ordinary conditions, we 

 must resort to the long-focus and telephoto lenses. The long 

 exposure required for the telephoto lenses now on the market, 

 from one half a second to a second or more, restricts their use 

 to comparatively rare and lucky chances. 



The Tripod. When two cameras are carried of the 4x5 

 and 5x7 size, a single tripod will answer for both, provided it 

 is moderately stiff about the head. A two-length tripod of 

 medium weight will serve most purposes, but a shorter one is 

 also required for nests on or near the ground. This is best 

 made by cutting down one of the ordinary kind, rather than 

 resorting to those of the multifolding type, which, unless made 

 of metal, are constantly spreading and slipping at critical 

 moments. 



The "Graphic" ball-and-socket clamp, used as a camera 

 holder for the bicycle, has been strongly recommended as a 

 substitute for the tripod or as an adjunct to it, as in photo- 

 graphing nests in trees, when the clamp, which is screwed to 

 the camera, is fastened to a convenient limb, but since my own 

 work has been of another kind I have had little occasion for its 

 use. 



The Shutter. In photographing birds whose sense of hear- 

 ing is well known to be acute, next to a good lens a silent 

 shutter is most needed, especially when the camera is less than 

 three feet away. The shutter which is silent not only in name 

 but in actual use and at all speeds is still one of the greatest 

 needs in the close-at-hand photography of animals, and es- 

 pecially of birds. 



Birds will often jump into the air as if shot, at the first 

 click of the metallic shutter. Fortunately, however, the force 

 of habit now conies to our aid, since they gradually learn that 

 it is harmless, and may be safely disregarded. 



The "iris diaphragm shutter," which I have mainly used, 

 is often troublesome in that some part of the sound arises at the 

 very beginning of the exposure, so that a startled bird in the 

 course of - 5 of a second may be all over your plate. The 



