WHAT I HAVE DONE WITH BIRDS 



sembled a huge knot on a tree that no bird, even with the keenest 

 eyes, would have paid the least attention to it. 



Then we waited until black night and no birds either came to 

 or left the tree. We attributed this fact to the noise and disturb- 

 ance we had made, although work was done as swiftly and quietly 

 as possible ; but there was much to do, and several trees in our way 

 could not be felled without the inevitable crash. We decided to 

 risk leaving the camera as it was and did not go near it again un- 

 til five o'clock the next evening. About six, Mother Owl stood in 

 her doorway, blinked her eyes, yawned, hung her head and slowly 

 and sadly shook it back and forth as if life had no attraction for 

 her. 



Kneeling up in my anxiety, to see better through the under- 

 brush, I snapped a twig. Mother Owl peered in my direction, 

 listening intently, every muscle on the alert. Oh, but I was thank- 

 ful for a well-oiled shutter! It might have been set at a second, 

 for fully that length ,of time elapsed before she dropped her 

 head again and shook it more depressedly than before. Then 

 her body seemed to lift suddenly and she was gone. 



"Oh, why didn't I set that shutter for a second?" I groaned. 

 "She never moved in that length of time." 



"To-morrow night we will," said my guide encouragingly. 



Then we went to develop the plate. We really had Mother 

 Owl so that the plate could be intensified into a printable one, 

 but it greatly lacked my idea of what could be done with this sub- 

 ject. The next night we tried it again. We set the shutter at a 

 second and Mother Owl flew in the middle of the exposure, which 

 taught me that I should have used the bulb, as the impulse to 

 flight was detected in time to have closed the shutter if it could 

 have been done. That plate was spoiled. 



The next day I had a brilliant idea. Why not close Mother 

 Owl's door after she left at night, and keep her out until the light 



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