226 WITH NATURE AND A CAMERA. 



After about half an hour's waiting the old bird 

 came back, and hopping about suspiciously from 

 branch to branch and tree to tree for a while, and 

 spending her time between listening and uttering 

 her harsh unmusical alarm note, she alighted on the 

 ground and made a very leisurely survey of the 

 bower in which the photographer knelt, almost afraid 

 to breathe. He could hear her hopping right round 

 because of the noise made by her feet upon the 

 carpet of dead leaves which was spread everywhere. 



It was quite an hour before she ventured to 

 visit her nest, and when she did there was no sign 

 of food in her bill. Her five young ones instantly 

 shot up their heads and opened their abnormally 

 wide mouths upon her approach, and she pushed 

 her bill right into their throats and fed them by 

 regurgitation, just like a pigeon. Each nestling 

 was fed in turn before the old bird took her de- 

 parture. We spent a whole day at the place, and 

 suffered the most terrible tortures from the gnats 

 which simply swarmed and filled our little bower 

 with their diabolical music. When the Jay was 

 away for food we killed them until our hands 

 and faces were thickly besmeared with their re- 

 mains, but the destruction of one seemed only to 

 invite the spiteful vengeance of a dozen others. 

 Still my brother would not give in, and when 

 the bird approached her nest he set his teeth, and 

 shivered under the exquisite punishment rather than 

 make the slightest movement which the sharp-eyed 

 creature would be likely to detect. Several times 

 she either saw something that frightened her, or 

 fancied she did so, for she set up a loud terrified 

 squawking, and suddenly took her departure when 

 she was within a yard of her nest. 



So ill-conditioned was the place for taking 



