156 Photography for the Sportsman Naturalist 



over, to remove the limb, in these cases, does 

 not in any way impair the naturalness of the 

 nest's surroundings, as the only surroundings it 

 has are the limb in which it is built. The birds 

 will desert, of course, but they would anyway, as 

 the hole must be cut open to show the contents 

 and there are only one or two species of birds 

 that will return to their nests after this has been 

 done. It is unfortunate for the birds, but there 

 is no other method of obtaining pictures of their 

 nests. 



In cutting open the nests to show the inner 

 construction and the eggs, the wall of bark and 

 rotten wood may either be cut away from the en- 

 trance hole to the eggs or else, after ascertaining 

 by the aid of a small twig the exact depth of the 

 hole, a small, square piece may be cut out, making 

 an entrance at the bottom of the hole and leaving 

 the rest of the wall intact. This can best be done 

 with a small keyhole saw. By this latter method 

 one can show both the entrance hole and the eggs 

 and nest complete, and it is by far the better 

 method of the two. It is well, however, to remove 

 the eggs first by tipping up the limb and allowing 

 them to roll down to the entrance hole ; otherwise 

 they will be very liable to be broken by the saw. 



I began by explaining the ways of working on 

 the nests of those birds that build on the ground. 

 Now I will go back to those that make their 



