PHOTOGRAPHING NESTS AND EGGS 33 



such a position that they can be hauled up without 

 catching in the branches. 



Nests in Holes. — These are the least satisfactory 

 nests to photograph. If we wish to show the eggs 

 that are laid in a hole in a tree, we can do so only by 

 making an opening in the branch or trunk, and this is 

 almost sure to cause the bird to abandon it. There 

 are some few birds, such as the chickadees and occa- 

 sionally the crested flycatchers, that will not desert 

 their homes even on such provocation, but they are 

 the exception. After the eggs are hatched it is dif- 

 ferent, but at present we are dealing only with nests 

 containing eggs. One way is to wait until the young 

 have left the nest and then place eggs (from a collec- 

 tion] in the nest, but even this cannot be done satis- 

 factorily except in the case of woodpeckers and 

 other birds that build no nest, but lay their eggs on 

 chips or bare wood. The reason for this is that 

 the nest after the young have left it is quite different 

 from when the eggs were in it. Not only is it 

 changed in shape, but it is strewn with the particles 

 of sheathing cast from the budding feathers of the 

 young birds. If an opening has to be made in a 

 branch, do it with a lock-saw, by cutting out a clean 

 square piece which can be fitted in place again. This 

 answers perfectly when the young have left their 

 eggs, and will sometimes answer when the nest con- 



