no HOW TO STUDY BIRDS 



one of the most interesting and unusual in my experi- 

 ence. The night before I had given a bird-lecture in 

 Hartford, and was entertained by a friend in the city. 

 In an adjoining yard, between a house and a new one 

 going up, was a space thirty feet wide in which grew 

 an oak tree. On a horizontal branch twenty feet 

 from the ground a pair of scarlet tanagers had act- 

 ually built their nest, despite the noise of the carpen- 

 ters, the play of the children beneath them, and the 

 passing on the street close by. 



I had been told of the nest before I came and had 

 brought a camera. The first thing in the morning 

 I borrowed a long ladder from the carpenters, set it 

 up against the nearest branch, about eight feet from 

 the nest, and photographed the tamely sitting bird. 

 Then what should she do but stand up on the edge 

 of her nest and inspect developments in her nursery. 

 Two of the four eggs had just hatched, and she 

 proceeded to eat the shells, after which she resumed 

 her brooding. 



To try for a picture at closer range, expecting to 

 flush the bird and leave the camera set attached to 

 the ladder, I moved the latter against the branch with 

 the nest, about a yard from it, and went up. To my 

 great surprise I found the bird still brooding, right 

 before me. Some twigs and leaves impeded the view, 

 so very carefully and quietly I bent them back tempo- 

 rarily, my fingers almost touching the bird, yet she 

 never stirred. She then let me screw up the camera 

 and take all the portraits of her I wanted. 



