176 Union Bay 



nest lacked one soiled brown egg, and it was quite evident 

 that this was the time for me to stay on the job. I could have 

 picked no better day: the sun shone, the light breeze was 

 comfortably cool, and the water still. 



I returned to the canoehouse, made the short drive to my 

 home, packed a lunch, my equipment, and a book, and re- 

 turned to the nest. I found everything as I had left it. 



I made my preparations unhurriedly for I anticipated a 

 long and perhaps tedious wait. I placed the canoe in the lily 

 pads in the proper position, then put out an anchor at both 

 ends and further steadied it by forcing the paddles into the 

 mud close to the boat. I decided where I wanted to use my 

 movie camera, measured the distance from the spot to the 

 nest, and calculated the proper exposure with my light meter. 

 I knew that it would be difficult to get a good picture, for the 

 nest was a dull greenish-brown, the eggs were a soiled tan, 

 and the newcomer would be inconspicuous against the back- 

 ground. There would be no decided contrasts to bring out 

 the detail. Since I was not in a movie studio, there could 

 be no chance of manipulating lights and reflectors. I would 

 have to photograph under natural conditions and hope that 

 the result would be reasonably good. These preparations 

 completed, I looked around me. • 



I was at the side of a platter-sized floating nest in the 

 middle of a fifty-foot circle of blooming water lilies. To the 

 north lay the residential section, to the south the riiarsh, to 

 the west the University grounds, and to the east the bay and 

 its opening into Lake Washington. Running through the bay 

 in an east and west direction and only a few rods from the 

 canoe stretched the Lake Washington canal. 



A strange place, I thought, to be photographing wildlife! 

 Much better, it would seem, as an area to get material for 

 an article on sports possibilities in the Pacific Northwest! As 

 if to confirm that thought, a cabin cruiser came through the 



