928 



THE NATURE BOOK 



Bad weather and other causes pre- 

 v^ented my obtaining pictures of the birds 

 entering or leaving the nest, and it was 

 obvious that the young were nearly ready 

 to fly ; for, as I watched them one even- 

 ing, I noticed that they chmbed to the 

 opening to receive the food. The next 

 morning was gloriously bright, and I 

 quickly had my camera set up with a few 



themselves of its harmlessness. It was 

 sufficiently entertaining to observe how 

 perfectly they kept in touch with their 

 scattered brood, invisible to me in the 

 dense carpet of plants, and my ears and 

 eyes were fully occupied in following the 

 doings of the hundred and one other crea- 

 tures abroad on that May morning. At 

 last it occurred to me to wonder if all the 



"CAN'T PLEASE EVERYBODY." 



sprays of honeysuckle twined around it 

 to mitigate its awe-inspiring appearance. 

 The birds, confiding and trustful by nature, 

 had become quite accustomed to my 

 presence owing to my frequent visits, 

 and it was as unnecessaiy as it would 

 have been useless to attempt to conceal 

 myself. I had not long to wait before the 

 Tits returned with succulent green cater- 

 pillars, and from the indescribable tre- 

 mulous cries proceeding from the under- 

 growth it was apparent that they were 

 feeding some young ones that had already 

 flown. An hour passed swiftly without 

 any serious attempt on the part of the 

 parent l)irds to approach the nest, though 

 they e.xamined the camera and convinced 



brood had flown, and carefully feehng 

 with one finger, I discovered that my 

 camera was focused on the empty, 

 deserted nursery. 



The young ones could only have left 

 the nest an hour or so before my arrival, 

 for they were still far from proficient in 

 the use of their legs. A careful search 

 resulted in the capture of three fledgelings, 

 which I placed on a spray of bramble, and 

 readjusting the camera, I waited once 

 more. Almost immediately the parents 

 responded to the hungry appeals ; but, 

 hovering like humming-birds before a 

 flower, they fed their young ones whilst 

 on the wing. It was delightfully pretty 

 to watch, but the light was not sufficiently 



