﻿Photographing a Bluebird's Nest by Reflected Light 



93 



open field, a Bluebird had taken it as a new and advantageous point from 

 which to feed. As he flies down and swerves about to catch a grasshopper, 

 his flight is marked by a quick flash of blue from his back, which is followed 

 directly by a glimpse of the brick-red from his breast as he returns. 



The nest of the Bluebird presents a problem that is not as easily solved 

 as most of those that interest a bird photographer. The nest shown in Fig. 

 2 was laid bare by cutting away a large piece from the side of the plum 

 tree. This allowed free access to the eggs, and a picture was taken without 

 difficulty. The part removed 

 was replaced after the opera- 

 tion, and the Bluebird's 

 household duties continued 

 as though nothing had hap- 

 pened. 



A year after this nest was 

 photographed another nest 

 was selected for an experi- 

 ment in the use of mirrors, 

 whereby the tree was not 

 damaged ; no possible harm 

 came to this bird or nest, 

 and the eggs were photo- 

 graphed exactly as they are in 

 nature. The nest was built 

 in a cavity in a cherry tree 

 five feet from the ground. 

 The entrance was about four 

 inches in diameter and was 

 fourteen inches from the nest 

 at the bottom of the hole. 

 The tree is shown in Fig. 3, 

 with an arrow pointing to 

 the entrance to the nest- 

 hole. Fig. 4 illustrates the 

 methods used and Fig. 5 the 

 photograph obtained. 



The rays of the sun were 

 reflected from the mirror on 

 the ground to the mirror in 

 the entrance, then down upon the nest, back again to the mirror, and finally 

 into the camera. In this way a reflection of the nest and eggs on the mirror 

 in the entrance was photographed, the real nest being fourteen inches be- 

 low where it appears in the picture. 



TREE CONTAINING BLUEBIRD'S NEST, SHOWING 

 MIRROR IN POSITION 



