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Bird - Lore 



discover the nest ! The more diflficult the search, the greater seems the reward. 

 What a thrill passes over the searcher when a little greenish bird flutters from 

 beneath his feet and he feels his patience rewarded ! What a feeling of expec- 

 tancy when a bright 

 colored male Warbler 

 hesitates for a moment 

 near a dark spot among 

 the leaves overhead and 

 one climbs the tree to 

 make sure that the nest 

 is there. 



If one is interested in 

 photography, there is 

 much satisfaction in 

 planning the method of 

 approach, the placing of 

 the blind, or the fasten- 

 ing of the camera. It 

 taxes one's ingenuity to 

 the utmost. The nest 

 may be fifty or sixty feet 

 from the ground and far 

 out on a branch. Usu- 

 ally it is in the deepest 

 shade. The bird may be 

 exceedingly timid, and 

 one can always count 

 on its being extremely 

 active. Scores of prob- 

 lems are presented for solution before one can secure satisfactory photo- 

 graphs, or even watch at close range the nesting habits of many of the 

 Warblers. 



The majority of Warblers, however, are less timid than most birds and 

 this facilitates their study. Many species seem not to know fear about their 

 nests. Indeed, in the case of one Blackburnian Warbler, shown me by G. A. 

 Bailey, I had difficulty in keeping the bird off the nest long enough to photo- 

 graph the eggs, even though I lifted her from the nest. The nest was about 25 

 feet from the ground in a small hemlock that swayed with the weight of my 

 body and shook with my labored breathing. Indeed, the motion of the tree 

 was harder to combat than the movements of the bird, and many failures 

 resulted until I held my breath during the exposure. So it is with many and, 

 perhaps, the majority of Warblers: there are some individuals of each species 

 that seem devoid of the fear instinct. One needs to work with them for only 



A CERULEAN HOME 

 High in the trees, concealed with bits of lichen and woody fungi, 

 the shallow nest is very difficult to find and still more difficult to 

 photograph. 



