Photographing Birds and their Young 183 



the owl in a conspicuous position, and erect near 

 it a ' scolding perch,' from which the protesting 

 bird may conveniently vituperate the poor, unof- 

 fending bunch of feathers with its staring eyes. 

 The camera is then focussed on the scolding 

 perch and the photographer retires into the under- 

 brush, and, bulb in hand, waits for some bird to 

 take the desired stand. A catbird's domain is 

 chosen for the reason that this species is the 

 alarmist of whatever neighborhood it may inhabit, 

 and once its attention has been attracted to the 

 owl by ' squeaking ' or uttering the alarm notes 

 of other birds, the photographer may subside and 

 allow the catbird to do the rest. 



" The bird's rage is remarkable, its fear painful. 

 Should the owl be near to the catbird's nest it 

 will utter notes in a tone of voice I have never 

 heard it use on other occasions. It loses all fear 

 of the camera, and from the scolding perch 

 screams at the owl with a vehemence which 

 threatens to crack its throat. One is glad to re- 

 move the offendinsf cause. 



" Other birds in the vicinity are of course at- 

 tracted, and hasten to learn the meaning of the 

 uproar. Often a bit of undergrowth of which 

 the catbird was apparently the only feathered ten- 

 ant will be found to possess a large bird popula- 

 tion. It is interesting to observe the difference 

 in the actions of various birds as they learn the 



