BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY 15 



only the dull-coloured mother bird would venture 

 within shot of the camera, while the father, puffed 

 up with vanity, for he is most wonderfully clothed 

 in various shades of intense blue, would sit on the 

 topmost branches of the trees near by and spend his 

 time in song. All endeavours to induce him to 

 come near the camera were futile. His dusky mate 

 proved somewhat more tractable, and as long as I 

 kept at a respectful distance from thd camera, she 

 did not seriously object to feeding her young ones. 

 But the overwhelming combination of man and 

 camera was more than she could stand, so while I 

 succeeded in securing a number of photographs, in 

 nearly every case I had to conceal myself in the 

 underbrush and make the exposure through the long 

 tube already mentioned. Towards the end of the 

 second day she became rather less shy, but still she 

 showed little of the confidence displayed by some 

 other of my bird friends. 



Spending so much time with birds affords one 

 splendid opportunities for studying their habits, and 

 with this interesting, if exclusive, family, the feature 

 of their domestic arrangements that struck me most 

 forcibly was, that not once did his lordship deign to 

 carry food to any of his hungry offspring ; entirely 

 to the industrious little mother were the youngsters 

 beholden for their meals, and the number of grass- 

 hoppers, spiders, and caterpillars that she had to 

 catch was quite remarkable. The only duties 

 incumbent on her gaily bedecked lord, that I 

 could discover, were firstly, that he must warn 

 her of impending danger by uttering a sharp note 

 of alarm ; secondly, he must try, if the intruder 



