Photographing Birds' Nests 139 



time to make the exposure, but not before. In 

 other words, give what artistic abiHty we may 

 possess full sway in this field, for with most 

 nature work art must take a back seat, while in 

 this branch it can be successfully employed, by 

 any one who is capable of doing so, to the oft- 

 times great improvement of the picture. 



All this, of course, applies only to such nests 

 as are built in low bushes or upon the ground. 

 Those that are placed in trees, on the ledges of 

 cliffs, and in like inaccessible places, can usually 

 be photographed from but one direction if, indeed, 

 we can get at them at all, and we may consider 

 ourselves lucky to obtain the picture without 

 troubling much about the artistic quality of it. 



It must be remembered, primarily, that a 

 picture of a bird's nest, to be of any value, scientifi- 

 cally or otherwise, must show as much as is pos- 

 sible of its surroundings and also the detail of its 

 construction and the manner in which it is fast- 

 ened to its support. In order to do this, so as to 

 obtain the best and most natural results, the nest 

 should always be photographed in situ, and this, 

 as can readily be seen, often presents great diffi- 

 culties, the overcoming of which affords one of the 

 chief pleasures of the work to any one who is seri- 

 ously interested in it. 



The nests that are built on or near the ground 

 present an easy mark, but those that are high up 



