60 PHOTOGRAPHY FOR BIRD-LOVERS, 

 some twenty to thirty yards from the nest, and 

 need not be more than a quarter of the size of 

 what will eventually conceal the photographer and 

 his camera. Probably the birds will pay but little 

 attention to this, and having allowed a few hours, 

 or preferably a day or so, to pass in which to get 

 them familiar with it, we may bring it to within 

 ten or fifteen yards and double its size. Again, 

 after a lapse of a day or, better still, of a night, it 

 can be moved up still nearer, this time perhaps 

 occupying its final position and assuming its 

 ultimate proportions. But on its completion it is 

 always advisable to leave the birds in peace until 

 they have quite settled down and become 

 thoroughly accustomed to its presence. Of course, 

 such an outline of the modus operandi can only be 

 suggestive. Many of the small warblers and 

 hedge-row birds are so tame and unsuspicious, 

 that I have on more than one occasion found 

 their nest, completed the " hide," and secured a 

 set of pictures from close-quarters with the sun 

 ever on its decline in the west. In fact, so con- 

 fiding or indifferent are some of these feathered 

 mites, that their portrayal lacks the charm of 

 difficulty. On the other hand, some of the others, 

 especially the larger ones, are so shy and wary that 

 I have often spent a week or more in these pre- 

 liminaries before actually attempting photography. 



