BIRDSNESTING—WITH A CAMERA. 
Written and Illustrated with Photographs 
by 
Cyrin Day. 
O all lovers of Nature what can be more 
delightful and enjoyable than a ramble in 
the country; and, as we take our country walks, 
how much more interesting it would be if we 
were to take up some hobby to enable us to 
come into closer touch with the wonders of 
Nature. There is a whole field of studies lying, 
as it were, at our feef—botany, entomology, insects 
and beetles of all descriptions ; but the one of which 
I am more particularly thinking is ornithology. 
This is a study for which a lifetime is not too 
long: In a short article, therefore, one needs 
must touch upon but a very small branch of the 
subject, and I propose only to say a few words 
about some British birds’ nests and them eges, 
which I have secured—on paper. 
In nature-photography a certam amount of 
difficulty has to be overcome before one is able to 
achieve success: first one’s nest has to be found; ner OR qe aN ee, er 
this, in the case of many birds, is not nearly such 
an easy matter as the uninitiated might think. The way some of our feathered friends 
manage to conceal the identity of their nests is nothing. short of marvellous, and it takes 
a practised eye to discover the whereabouts of some of them, as they frequently so 
resemble thei surroundings that the ordinary observer would never notice them at all, 
even when absolutely lookmg at them. Other birds, such as larks, plovers and several 
other kinds will lead one away froin their nests by feigning lameness or being wounded, 
and so taking one off the scent, as it were; but after some study of their habits one 
‘soon gets an idea of where to look for certain nests. 
* Nature seems to have watched over all birds in one way or another. Apart 
from the similarity of nests to their surround- 
ings which I have already mentioned, the 
eges are also often provided with protective 
coloration, especially when there is no nest, 
or simply an apology. Again, numerous 
other birds protect themselves and their off- 
spring by nesting in holes either in trees, 
stumps, walls, or even in the ground itself, 
sometimes using a rabbit burrow or other 
animal’s hole, or even excavating the ground 
themselves. During incubation many birds 
are protected by their p'umage, such birds 
as kingfishers, woodpeckers, and other con- 
spicuously-coloured birds building out of sight 
in covered nests or holes. The magpie not 
only has its nest covered in, but enters it 
NEST OF PHAHN. from a hole in the side which is so well 
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