40 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR BIRD-LOVERS. 



fitting up the camera all complete, tying the focus- 

 sing cloth over it, and having made one end of the 

 line fast to the handle, leaning it against the tree- 

 foot. Then climbing up a careful course with the 

 dark-slides in the pockets, the camera can be drawn 

 up as before ready for use. Any of these 

 methods is, as a rule, preferable to climbing up 

 with the case and legs strapped to the back. 



Fixing the Camera among the Branches. 



As to the actual fixing of the camera among 

 the branches not a great deal can be said, 

 as so much depends upon circumstances. It is 

 seldom, however, that a suitable place can be 

 found for the points of the tripod legs ; they 

 usually have to be bound to the boughs, and for 

 this purpose tape is the best material to use, since 

 it is less liable to slip on the polished wood than is 

 string. A good length is needed, for the legs 

 must be made very firm. Often a supplementary 

 leg, such as has already been described, is useful 

 to gain support from some branch otherwise out 

 of reach. The chief thing to be borne in mind 

 when fixing the camera, is to keep it as truly 

 plumb and horizontal as possible ; a camera that 

 is askew tends to make the nest appear sloping 

 to one side and unnatural. Never mind the 

 conventional attitude of the tripod, let the legs 

 point anywhere, up or down, this way or that, so 



