X 





BEI.LOWING OVER TH^ LAKE; TO HIS MATi; 



brief time that she had been away. She 

 came to a dead stop three inches from 

 the brim of the hat and fluffed out her 

 feathers indignantly, at the same time 

 uttering a series of plaintive, piping 

 whistles. This brought forth a muffled 

 response from the young, and instantly 

 the old bird became highly excited. 



To hear her offspring and yet not be 

 able to find or see them was quite inex- 

 plicable. Round and round the hat she 

 ran, piping away in the meantime and 

 now and again stopping to listen — a peep 

 from a youngster being sufficient to start 

 her off again. 



At length the limit of patience seemed 

 to be reached, for instead of circling 

 longer about the obstruction the mother 

 plover headed straight for it, pushing 

 against the upturned brim with her breast 

 and pecking at the material in the crown 

 as if to remove the frightful object. Had 

 there been any purpose in further extend- 

 ing the experiment I should not have had 

 the heart to do it ; but there was none, 

 and the hat was removed from the nest 



Photo by Howard H. Cleaves 



and put in its proper place. The little 

 piper had proved herself to be the most 

 solicitous shore-bird mother that I had 

 ever met. 



USING AN OWIv FOR BAIT 



In seeking to procure bird photographs 

 one should mark carefully the several 

 factors which go to make up the bird's 

 life — his food habits, time and manner of 

 nesting, habitat in winter, and even his 

 roosting place by night, his favorite perch 

 by day (if he has one), and any peculiar 

 whims, likes or dislikes, which happen to 

 characterize his kind. Being possessed 

 of an understanding of these things is 

 identical with having success within one's 

 grasp, if bird photography is the aim. 



The simple knowledge, for instance, 

 that hawks, crows, jays, and many other 

 of the land birds are the sworn enemies 

 of the owls is sufficient to put one in a 

 position to conduct a highly entertaining 

 experiment and one which is likely to 

 produce a series of striking photographs. 

 The reason that so many birds display 



