﻿Bird- Lore 



the tree was encountered. It appeared easy enough from below, but I soon 

 found that one's movements in a tree-top were of necessity somewhat 

 restricted. After all, I had to focus by the scale, guessing at the distance. 

 A tripod screw was lost in the operation, and later, in searching for the screw, 

 my poclcetbook was discovered among the leaves. It had been unknowingly 

 deposited there during my aerial performance. By the dark-room test the 

 plates exposed on this trip were pretty much all a failure. 



Again (May 1 1 ) I climbed the tree and found no change except that the 

 Hawk had added to the nest some old tent-caterpillar web mixed with small 

 sticks and particles of decaying vegetation. Exposed three plates, and later 



discovered that two were light- 

 struck and the third out of focus. 

 . /£ - -, , The necessity of devising some 



way of focusing by the ground - 

 glass was evident. 



On May 22 I found a very 

 great change had taken place. 

 In place of two of the eggs, there 

 were two yellowish down-covered 

 birds with exceptionally large 

 heads and noticeably black bills 

 and yellow ceres. It was a fasci- 

 nating sight. The little fellows 

 were undoubtedly Hawks, but 

 very gentle and lovable they ap- 

 peared to be just then. Exposed 

 six plates. Strapped the tripod 

 to limbs and tried to use the 

 ground -glass, but something or 

 other seemed always in motion 

 and I had a feeling all the time 

 that there would be disappoint- 

 ments. Some small twigs with 

 green leaves had been added to 

 the nest. There was also in the 

 nest a short-tailed shrew, its body 

 being still warm. Mrs. Broad- 

 wing had been about to prepare 

 it properly for the youngsters, no 

 doubt, when she saw us coming. 

 June I I took with me to the nest a screw for firmly securing the cam- 

 era in any desired position and thus dispensing entirely with the tripod. 

 The screw was made by the local blacksmith, at a cost of twenty-five cents, 



TREE-TOP PHOTOGRAPHY 



Photographing the nest of a Broad-winged Hawk 



