i8 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



planned to try a picture of her when she had commenced to set close 

 just before the eggs hatched. How easy it is to make plans and how 

 little it takes to upset them. 



Commencing with June 29th daily visits were made to this nest. The 

 disposition of the fernale seemed to have undergone an entire change 

 for instead of now leaving the nest as soon as anyone appeared she 

 trusted entirely to color protection. In order not to startle her too sud- 

 denly I walked by her several times without appearing to notice her; 

 then gradually longer and longer pauses were made when opposite the 

 nest until at length she allowed me to stand and look at her from a dis- 

 tance of about five feet. Not a movement did she make but her bright 

 iDrown eyes snapped with excitement and anxiety. At the first sight of 

 the camera which was then brought up she left the nest with a rush. 



The next day after two trials the camera and tripod were placed for 

 an instant before her, but she would not wait to be focussed upon. 



The several trials that were made each of the next two days were 

 equally without results except that they served to lessen the fear of the 

 Sparrow to such an extent that on two occasions the apparatus was all 

 ready and the slide being drawn when off she flew, leaving the operator 

 to pick up his traps and trudge homewards, still not discouraged (but 



almost.) . 



Success is the reward of perserverance and the next day I obtained 

 the longed for portrait of a Grasshopper Sparrow as she sits on her 

 treasures under her own roof. This picture as shown here is enlarged 

 about three times from the original and is life sized. 



Extending from one end of the above field for a mile or more is a 

 succession of patches of open land and small growth. It is an ideal 

 place for a great many birds to nest in, and is one of two localities 

 where I spent all the time that I could spare last summer. Frequent 

 calls of the Bob White proclaimed that they too found it to be a very 

 agreeable place. Nests of these game birds are much more often found 

 by accident than by any continued search, as- the sitting bird will not 

 leave the nest until almost trod upon. A careful overhauling of what 

 appeared to be the most likely place for a quail's nest to be located 

 failed to reveal any trace of one. 



It was found finally when I was least expecting it. I was just step- 

 ping up on a wall with a complete photographic outfit in hand when out 

 from under my uplifted foot dashed a quail with a whir, which to say 

 the least, startled me. Hastily stooping down, I looked upon a nest 

 filled with white eggs, fifteen of them, all of which are shown in the 

 accompanying half tone. The nest was in back against the wall sur- 

 rounded and almost concealed from view by the tall grass; ivy leaves 

 from the vines creeping along the wall also drooped over to help hide 

 the opening. These latter were moved to one side in order to photo- 



