30 



Wild Birds. 



cutting out a large flap on each side of the roof, extending this a foot or less, and then 

 guying each corner separately, at such an angle as to admit a free passage of air under 

 the peak. For convenience I prefer the simpler form. 



After working one summer with the tent I saw for the first time the interesting work 

 of the brothers Kearton,' in which a different kind of blind is used. They devised an 



imitation tree-trunk, having a 

 skeleton of bamboo rods and 

 a covering of galvanized wire 

 and green cloth, large enough 

 to hold the photographer 

 standing erect with his camera. 

 The outside was painted in 

 imitation of bark and decorat- 

 ed with moss and leaves. This 

 was used in cases of nests 

 placed on or near the ground 

 in favorable situations. Mr. 

 Kearton says it would hardly 

 do to set this up beside an ex- 

 posed nest like a lark's " in 

 the middle of a bare ten-acre 

 field," and to suit such a case 

 they constructed an artificial 

 rubbish heap, from which pho- 

 tographs were successfully 

 made. 



Such devices are of course 

 unnecessary when the nesting 

 site is brought under control, 

 since in this case the birds 

 must become accustomed to a 

 changed environment, and the 

 addition of the tent is a fac- 

 tor of no great importance. 

 Then again the great heat of 

 summer would prohibit their use in most parts of this country. Aside from the question 

 of comfort however, the advantages of the tent lie in its convenience and portability. It 

 is a simple means of attaining what is chiefly sought, perfect concealment. The reason it 

 has not been adopted before possibly arises from the fact that the readiness with which 

 many birds become accustomed to strange objects, or form new habits, has not hitherto 

 been appreciated. Since individual and specific differences are so great in the class of 

 birds, whose distribution is world-wide, one should not be surprised if there are many 

 cases in which the tent or any similar blind would not work with success. 



> Willi Lift- at Ifomc : IIo-c,' lo Study and Pholograph II. By K. Kearton, illustrateil by C. Kearton. Cassell 

 & Company, 1899. 



Fig. 24. The tools of bird-photography: the tent roiled up in portable 

 form at right. 



