APPARATUS AND GENERAL ADVICE. 7 



focal-plane shutter-work and night-photography, 

 when we are either burning magnesium-ribbon or 

 using our small metal flash-lamp as illuminants. 



It may be well to mention here one or two of 

 the faults to which the ordinary amateur photo- 

 grapher is prone. He does not spend sufficient 

 time and pains in developing a plate which has 

 had a very rapid exposure, and consequently re- 

 quires building-up with care and patience, cuts 

 short its stay in the fixing-solution, and hurries it 

 through the washing-tub. It is well to remember 

 that the results obtained from the best camera in 

 the world and the most skilful field-work may be 

 utterly ruined and defeated by carelessness in the 

 developing-room. 



The telephoto lens introduced a few years ago is 

 a good apparatus enough for portraying stationary 

 objects with at a distance as, for instance, a 

 raven's nest in the face of a cliff, when it is 

 possible to get on a level with it. But this lens 

 is not so suitable for most birds, because they are 

 of such a restless disposition that it is impossible 

 to give a sufficiently long exposure. An amusing 

 thing happened to my brother last spring whilst 

 trying to make a study of tAvo or three rooks' 

 nests with a telephoto lens and its attenuated 

 camera. The nests were the beginnings of a new 

 colony in a few elm trees growing alongside a 

 brick-field ; and when one of the labourers, who 

 evidently took a good deal of interest in the birds 



