118 BIRDS FROM THE LIFE 



parent birds to keep the nursery clean, bringing home 

 to one the pertinence of the old Scots proverb ' It 's 

 an ill bird that files (defiles) it 's ain nest.' 



The scenes of sea-bird life gannets, puffins, guille- 

 mots, terns, etc., were exceedingly beautiful, exhibiting 

 these birds in their native haunts, flying, swimming, 

 diving, incubating, and so on. Moreover, some idea 

 was given to the spectators of the difficulty and risk 

 incurred in obtaining these photographs ; for one 

 series showed the operator going over the edge of a 

 vertical sea cliff, roped, of course, and with his camera 

 on his back. It made one hold one's breath to see 

 him swinging in mid-air, warding himself off the rocks 

 with his foot, then being hauled up, until, with an actual 

 sense of relief, we saw him safely landed again on the 

 summit beside his companions. So thrilling so life- 

 like were the scenes in this series, that one had no 

 thought, before the close, to bestow upon the mar- 

 vellous skill of the photographer. 



Scarcely less instructive and interesting were some 

 lantern slides exhibited by other naturalists. Mr. 

 Lodge gave a vivid account of his long and comfort- 

 less vigil in a hollow tree beside the carcass of a cow, 

 in order to get a snapshot at vultures in Albania. 

 Those who know the great marsh in Montenegro, 

 wherein he spent days before he secured a portrait of 

 the great white heron (Herodias alba) on its nest, will 

 be able to appreciate the ardour which inspires those 

 who voluntarily undergo so much physical torment. 



Beautiful were Mr. Crowley's photographs of the 

 black-throated and red-throated divers at their nests ; 



