AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 339 



THE CAMERA AGAINST A PHOEBE 



Editor of American Ornithology. 



Dear Sir: — I was much pleased to learn that my Phoebe photo had 

 been successful in your contest. It was through the medium of your 

 magazine that I was induced to try this form of photography, and the 

 past summer I have spent some of the pleasantest hours of my life 

 attempting to lure some wily bird within range of my lens. 



The first subject upon which my attention was fixed was a Phoebe 

 who had built her nest on a beam under the roof of a shed. She proved 

 to be a very difficult subject to manage. " It was very dark in the shed 

 and of course photographing a live bird under that condition was out of 

 the question. The first thing to do was to find a means of lighting the 

 nest sufficiently to admit of a snap shot. Obviously mirrors and re- 

 flected sunlight were the solution of this. I secured two large, heavy 

 mirrors and placed one of them outside at the correct angle to throw 

 the light in the desired place. But what a change this made. The nest 

 and the woodwork surrounding it were in the brightest of sunlight 

 while the rest of the interior was even more dark by the comparison. 

 What bird would have the hardihood to return under these changed cir- 

 cumstances. 



Before trying the old bird I thought it would be a good idea to get a 

 good picture of the nest and eggs. But here again was another diffi- 

 culty. The nest was situated above my head and close to the roof of 

 the shed so that the eggs could not be seen. I could easily photograph 

 the nest but I wanted to show the eggs too. The second mirror helped 

 me out of this trouble and after I had it in position above the nest I 

 made an exposure and got the nest as shown here. Besides showing 

 the structure of a Phoebe's nest, this photograph has furnished no little 

 amusement. The picture as printed here is right side up, but immedi- 

 ately upon handing the photograph to anyone, they invariably quickly 

 turn it around as though afraid that the eggs might fallout, and it takes 

 some explanation on my part to show them that they are not looking at 

 the eggs but only an image of them. 



Now to get the old bird. The second mirror was removed and after 

 attaching a long rubber tube to the shutter I hid myself. She wanted 

 to go back to the nest but every time that she went under the shed the 

 brilliant state of affairs there caused her to make a hasty exit. Time 

 after time she would almost touch the nest and then dash out as fast as 

 possible. The shifting sun made it necessary to adjust the mirrors 

 about every five minutes and undoubtedly this action delayed the 

 Phoebe in her decision to return to the nest. After about an hour's 



