THE WARBLER FAMILY 123 



my presence. Once she even perched on my hat 

 and used the camera as a half-way house, resting 

 on it each time she went back and forth to supply 

 the fledgelings with food. Unfortunately the light 

 was not very good for instantaneous photography, 

 but such an opportunity for securing pictures of 

 this comparatively rare bird was not to be missed, 

 so I made many exposures on her and her young, 

 with fair results. 



From a photographic standpoint they were 

 faulty, but the subject was sufficiently interesting 

 to warrant one's overlooking the shortcomings. 

 The light had grown so weak by the time I had 

 made about fifteen exposures that I was forced to 

 abandon any further attempts with the camera for 

 that day. Sitting down on the ground, I placed 

 the young warblers on my lap to examine them 

 carefully. Imagine my surprise when both the 

 parent birds came on my knee, first without and 

 then with food for the youngsters. It was quite 

 a novel sensation, and one that was more than 

 enjoyable. It was positively thrilling. 



Knowing from past experience how sceptical 

 people are when told of anything that they them- 

 selves have not seen, I made up my mind then and 

 there to pay my warbler friends another visit early 

 the following day, and photograph the old one on 

 my hand. The day was fine, and I was fortunate 

 enough to find one of the young ones, who could 

 now fly a little, perched on the low branch of a 

 small bush. One of the old birds was hunting 

 busily for insects. Seeing me pick up her baby, 

 she flew toward me, but did not object in the least 



