144 WILD LIFE IN THE TREE TOPS 



But at this moment to my consternation I heard the young Herons in 

 * my ' nest begin their excited ' chun-chun ' noise, and for a moment was at a 

 loss as to how I had best act. For it is quite certain that had I made an attempt 

 to turn the handle of the cinema camera, the pigeon would have dashed out in 

 a frenzy of fear and it is equally certain that such an exit would have caused 

 the Heron to leave her family as unceremoniously. 



So, stealthily reaching forward in the darkness with my right hand, and 

 following the move with a sudden grab, I had made captive the astonished 

 pigeon before she had even time to flutter ! And transferring her to my left 

 hand, I sat in readiness for the coming of the Heron. 



And when the time of tension had passed, and the Heron was gone off 

 again, I opened the entrance flap and threw the pigeon out into the air. 



And the incident did not end there, for when I next visited my hide 

 the little pile of twigs supported two eggs, whilst another pair of Doves had made 

 a second nest in the place where the first had been and laid an egg on it. 



I once missed an extraordinary photograph from this observation post 

 which would have shown a magpie searching for fragments of food beneath the 

 Heron's nest ; only she persisted in keeping just out of the picture. And then 

 I wish I had been able to get a record of a family of five fully fledged young 

 jays, who perched on a branch outside my observation post, within two feet 

 of my head, and were fed on insects by their devoted parents. 



But there is much that one just misses in the way of bird photographs. 



And there are occasions when one secures by pure accident something 

 of particular interest, and of unusual pictorial value. 



An instance of which is, perhaps, the following and final story which, 

 like so many of the others, occurred ' before the war.' 



We were trying for a photograph of the mature Heron, and when I had 

 focused the camera on a nest with certain pictorial qualities, my brother, who 

 had frequently performed similar services, agreed to await the return of the bird. 



Whilst I enjoyed myself out on the marshes, he patiently waited on, 

 without seeing a sign of the parent Herons. As time went by he began to feel 

 a little sceptical as to whether any good results would be achieved ; when a 

 rabbit, galloping through the wood, and all unconscious of him, or his apparatus, 

 blundered into the string and made an exposure! 



I was at the time somewhat annoyed at being called back ; and at having 

 to climb the tree to rearrange things for such a ridiculous reason. But the 

 rabbit was quite forgiven when, on developing the negative, I discovered that 

 it had contributed towards my collection what is without doubt one of 

 our most successful achievements. 



Letterpress printed by Butler & Tanner, Frome and London, 

 Photographs reproduced and printed by John Swain & Son, Ltd., London. 



