THE OSPREYS' NESTS 



half, usually with a hundred yards or so of space 

 between them. 



They were composed almost entirely of rough sticks 

 and weeds, and stood four to five feet high. In the 

 majority of cases we found young birds in them — two, 

 three, and even four in a nest. Dr. Overton had had 

 an umbrella-shaped hiding-place constructed for my 

 use, and I spent half a day in this with my camera 

 ready. I had no success. The birds, both the males 

 and the females, would alight some twenty yards 

 away and remain there watching my tent. Obviously, 

 though they could not see me, they knew there was a 

 man in it, and they would sooner leave their young 

 without food for an hour or two than risk going to the 

 nest whilst I was there. 



Finding the first scheme was of no use, I moved 

 down the shore to another nest, and had a land of Red 

 Indian wigwam constructed out of some planks which 

 had been washed up on the beach. From one point 

 of view the result was entirely satisfactory. The parent 

 birds took no notice of the hiding-place, and kept on 

 visiting their offspring. I ought to have secured some 

 very interesting studies, but, unfortunately, the light 

 was poor. It was a great disappointment to me. Still, 

 I managed to learn something of the ways of the birds. 

 They furnished rather a good example of protective 

 colouring, for when the young noticed the Doctor 

 moving about on the shore they immediately dropped 



287 



