FOUR NEIGHBORS DIVERSE 



branch and sat down near by with the big camera, ready 

 for business. The vireo, to my delight, went right to 

 feeding the clamorous Cowbirds and I scored half-a- 

 dozen shots before the western hill cut off the yellow 

 sunshine. I put the youngsters back in the nest, hoping 

 against hope that they would not be gone on the mor- 

 row, for I knew that these pictures already taken must 

 be under-exposed, as they proved to be. 



All in a fluttet of excitement, the next morning, I 

 peered through the foliage as I neared the nest. "Oh, 

 joy, they are there!" I exclaimed. I thought surely I 

 was all right now, but my troubles were to begin. I 

 posed the young, but they were determined not to stay 

 on the branch, and I had to replace them again and 

 again scores of times. Besides this, the mother did 

 not show up. After waiting over an hour, I feared all 

 sorts of things, as she had not appeared at the nest 

 while I was removing the young. Finally, just as I 

 was thinking of returning them to the nest, I heard the 

 old bird, and presently she came and gave one a worm. 

 But now it had clouded up darkly and threatened rain, 

 being too dark to photograph. I sat there another hour 

 or more and watched her tuck grubs, flies, raspberries 

 and the like into the hungry mouths. There was the 

 camera staring helplessly at all those splendid poses 

 two or three feet away, and I fairly gnashing my teeth, 

 my proverbial patience almost a complete wreck. 



But at length the clouds began to break. The sun 

 peered out, and I scored a shot as a big red raspberry 



204 



