120 



BIRD STUDIES WITH A CAMERA 



nest, it showed no alarm at the click of the shutter 

 as the exposure was made. This suri3rised me not 

 a little. The camera was usually about three feet 

 from the bird, the exposure was necessarily rapid 

 {^g second and stop 8)^ the snap of the old-stjde 

 " Henry Clay," used on the first day, or even of the 

 less loud Iris diaphragm, could be i>lainly heard at 

 a distance of several yards, and its failure to startle 

 these nervous, easily frightened birds makes one 

 suspect that their hearing is deficient. 



The nests of the Terns that chose the upland for 

 a home were often picturesquely surrounded by 

 stunted sumach or blooming yarrow, but tlie birds 

 here were far less easy to ])hotograpli because of 





M a. \> 



the dilhculty of thoroughly concealing one's camera. 

 The owner of a-n espiu-ially ])leasing nesting site Icept 

 me beneath my bit of sail foi' somewhat over two 

 hours, while she — if it was she — hung in the air just 



