Birds by Land and Sea 



disposed to risk movement on the part of the subject 

 by long exposure rather than face the certainty of 

 a thin negative by a shorter one. Working with 

 the most rapid plates I could obtain, I ran the 

 exposure up to five seconds with the lens at full 

 aperture, and with the camera at a distance of five 

 feet from the nest ; with what result may be judged 

 from the picture of this bird. 



This garden-warbler was an excellent sitter. In 

 going to the camera I had to pass her nest, but the 

 bird often remained sitting, although my hand was 

 about six inches from her as I passed. If she rose, 

 I had no sooner put my head under the cloth to 

 reset the focus than she would appear on the screen, 

 re-arranging her eggs. She returned so quickly that 

 it was always a question whether she or I would 

 arrive first, and often, after waiting some time for 

 her return, I would examine the dark little bush to 

 discover that she had been sitting all the time. In 

 the end, I took a series of plates standing beside the 

 camera at a distance of five feet from the nest. 



I was naturally much interested in this little bird, 

 who had begun nesting operations so late in the 

 year. Her trustfulness, and the cheerful .way in 

 which she hopped back to her place after such 

 frequent disturbance, awakened affectionate feelings 

 such as those which the equally confiding willow-wren 

 never fails to arouse. The spotted flycatcher itself 

 was not more silent than this garden-warbler, for I 

 never heard it utter a sound at all. Only on rare 



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