224 BRITISH BIRDS. [VOL. XIV @) 
on one occasion only, dive while in full flight. The object — 
of this was not apparent, for, so far as I could see, the beak — 
held nothing when the bird flew on. 
I spent two long afternoons and a morning in trying to 
photograph the birds. Nine or ten yards from the nesting- 
hole, and on the same side of the stream, the bank bulges 
out a few feet. Here I erected a hiding-tent. Exactly 
opposite, leaning over the stream, is the old willow which 
was constantly used as a perch. Owing to the overhanging 
of the bank I was unable to see the actual hole from here. 
Between me and the nest was a short stump projecting out 
of the water. I trained the camera, for which I had made 
a miniature hide on the bank, on it, and then retired about 
fifty yards down the stream with a long-distance release. 
Here I remained throughout the afternoon, but, though the 
birds came with surprising regularity about twice an hour, 
one from up stream, the other from down, they never 
alighted on the stump. Sometimes they flew straight in, at 
others they used the willow. Even the hunter, from down 
stream, twice flew past the nest to settle here for a minute 
before going in. 
My next efforts were concentrated one morning on this 
willow, but the spot was so shaded and the light so poor 
that the results were nil. 
As a final resource, I stretched a leafy twig across the 
nesting-hole, thus blocking the entrance. I then put up a 
perch a couple of feet out, and fixed my camera still further 
out in the stream, going into my tent with the release. I 
thought she would surely use this convenient perch to think 
the matter over. After nearly half an hour the bird from 
up stream returned with a fish straight to the nest, when 
she shot upwards like a rocket, into the orchard and round 
my tent, to settle, again upstream, about a hundred yards 
away. Ten minutes elapsed before she again came back, 
hovered like a Kestrel for a few seconds outside the hole, 
and then flew to my willow and settled on the usual branch, 
not two feet away from my head. She seemed particularly 
agitated, jerking her head and tail more frequently and 
more energetically than usual. Then she returned to the nest, 
hovered, finally settling on the camera! After a minute she 
again went to the nest, hovered, and then settled on my 
perch, and gave me my first chance of a photograph. The 
thrill and excitement of that moment is quite indescribable. 
Here she remained for a couple of minutes, at first 
facing the camera and then the nest, to which she flew 

