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Mr. W. E. Renaut,



I have found the Solitary Doves very hardy and easy to

keep, and very amiable towards others of their tribe, a great

point where one cannot give a separate aviary to each pair of

birds.



RAMBLES WITH A CAMERA AMONG OUR SOUTH-

COUNTRY BIRDS.


By W. E. Renaut, M.B.O.U.


It has been my wish for some time to reproduce in the

pages of our Magazine a record of my work in depicting, in situ,

the nests and eggs of some of our commoner British birds ; but

the Editor tells me that my pictures must be accompanied by

some descriptive matter. To narrate the tale of my wanderings

in search of subjects for the camera among the haunts of some

of our Southern birds in readable form is, to me, a work far

more difficult than the making of the pictures themselves.

Gladly would I yield my task to abler hands ; but as I am not to

be excused, I must beg my fellow members’ indulgence.


To those who, like myself, revel in the study of bird-life—

be it over hill, through dale, by winding river or marshy pool,

forest and copse, over wild moorland waste, or by the side of the

silver sea—it is hard to find a more enjoyable way of spending a day

than in close observation of the interesting habits and engaging

ways of our feathered friends. I am never so happy as when I

set out at sunrise in all the glory of a Spring morning, armed

with a good field-glass, and a camera ; prepared for an all-day

tramp, with just enough sustenance for the inner man to

keep one going until sunset, and, above all, water-tight boots

and old clothes ; for dews lay heavy, and bramble and tangled

thicket have to be reckoned with.


One of the first birds to greet the day is the Song Thrush

(Turdus musicus), pouring out his joyous notes front some coin

of vantage, seeming to challenge the whole avian concert—a

challenge readily answered by all within hearing. A nest of this

species which I photographed last year (but which unfortunately

turned out badly) was in a most unusual site, being placed on



