﻿Photographing a Bluebird's Nest by Reflected Light 



By ROBERT W. HEGNER 



With photographs from nature hy the author 



BLUEBIRDS are so 

 numerous that, dur- 

 ing the breeding 

 season, almost every 

 abandoned Woodpecker 

 nest-hole or weather- 

 worn cavity hides within 

 its walls one of their 

 nests. It is therefore no 

 difficult task to find one 

 suitable for studying and 

 photographing the home- 

 life of its tenants. 



The Bluebird shown 

 in Fig. i built its nest in 

 a cavity in a plum tree, — 

 probably the last year's 

 home of a Downy Wood- 

 pecker. It was only four 

 feet from the ground and 



NEST AND EGGS OF BLUEBIRD. SHOWING 

 OLD METHOD OF PHOTOGRAPHING BY RE- 

 MOVING PART OF THE TREE. 



BLUEBIRD AT ENTRANCE TO NEST 



easily within reach of the camera on 

 its tripod. 



The Bluebird's fearless confidence 

 in man makes his study a work of 

 considerable interest. No dummy 

 camera, artificial brush heap or tree is 

 necessary in order to take his photo- 

 graph. This fearlessness is delightful 

 after the many exhausting waits in 

 photographing other birds. He pays 

 little attention to the camera placed 

 near his nest, but often uses it as a 

 convenient perch before entering his 

 home, and very quickly forms the 

 habit of resting on it a moment on 

 every trip to the nest. Several times, 

 when my camera has been in place 

 before a Vesper Sparrow's nest in the 

 (92) 



