A SUMMER WITH THE RED-TAILS 33 



found to occupy the highest possible position, 

 and there was but a poor support for the tired 

 visitor. It was with difficulty that he was 

 able to lift his head above the big nest and 

 examine the contents. The structure was al- 

 most flat, with only a slight saucer-shaped de- 

 pression. The lining was composed of but a 

 few strips of bark, and three dirty, bluish- 

 white eggs gave promise of the future. 



Try as he would, there was absolutely no 

 place where a camera might be placed to get 

 a satisfactory photo of the nest and eggs. No 

 other trees were near enough to serve the pur- 

 pose, and there was no place in the nest tree 

 which would furnish support and give proper 

 view. The Naturalist must then content him- 

 self to wait until the young birds appeared in 

 order to secure a photographic record of the 

 family life, and even this was unsatisfactory 

 because the birds must be removed from the 

 nest. 



When Mrs. Red-tail was at home, she set- 

 tled so close on her eggs that she could with 

 difficulty be seen from the ground, and curi- 

 ous small boys passing by could find no evi- 

 dence that the nest was occupied. The dis- 

 tance from the ground was so great and the 



