i88 



HOW TO STUDY BIRDS 



leave the nest. About seven or eight days old is a 

 good age to photograph them, before they are quite 

 old enough to flutter away, and yet are nearly fledged. 



The problem now is quite a different one. There 

 can be no long exposures, for the young are in almost 

 constant motion. The camera should be set as be- 

 fore, focused on the nest, the diaphragm wide open, 

 and the shutter set for the briefest exposure consistent 

 with the amount of light. It may be possible to pho- 

 tograph them in light shade by watching for an in- 

 stant of stillness, and squeezing the bulb at the op- 

 portune time for an exposure of a quarter or half a 

 second. Otherwise one must temporarily bend back 

 the foliage and let in the direct sunlight, when every- 

 thing is ready for the exposure, which should be " in- 

 stantaneous," the shutter set at perhaps one-fiftieth of 

 a second. 



Besides photographing the young in the nest, one 

 can secure portraits of them by posing them on a 

 branch in bright light close before the camera, using 

 the most rapid exposure. Do not keep them long 

 in the hot sun. When they are about old enough to 

 leave the nest, they will flutter out at the least alarm, 

 and it is very hard to make them stay on a branch, so 

 it is well to do this before they reach the age of wild- 

 ness. If they must be photographed at this stage, 

 there is no harm in tethering the youngsters with soft 

 thread, tying a knot that will not tighten and bind 

 the ankle as a slip-noose would. When returned to 

 the nest, hold something over them for awhile till they 



