PHOTOGRAPHING NESTS AND EGGS 53 



used to advantage, provided it does not frighten 

 the bird, and my own experience leads me to think 

 that the birds pay but Httle attention to it. The 

 same may be said of the white reflecting-cloth 

 placed beneath the birds. It is scarcely advisable to 

 use much in the way of accessories, as, owing to the 

 shortness of exposure, the lens must be used open or 

 nearly so, and the leaves or flowers which extend a 

 few inches forward or back of the birds would be 

 completely out of focus and would simply be black 

 and white blurs which would add nothing to the 

 beauty of the picture ; rather would they detract from 

 it. In taking the fledgelings from the nest be care- 

 ful not to let them escape, for their powers of hiding 

 are wonderful. Let them once scramble into the 

 scrub and it may take you hours to find them again. 

 The most certain way is to put them into a bag 

 (which should have breathing-holes cut in it), then 

 one by one they can be taken out and placed on the 

 branch. This sounds easy, and occasionally it is so, 

 but as a rule the young rascals will not do anything 

 you wish; sometimes, even though they are strong 

 enough, they will not stand on the twig; they will 

 fall backward or forward, as though their legs were 

 paralysed, or they will clutch hold of their neck 

 or wings and absolutely refuse to make proper 

 use of their feet. It is a good test of patience, but 

 you will soon realise that only by keeping good- 



