The wombat. 25 



PHOTOGRAPHING BIRDS' NESTS. 



(From the A. P. J.) 



The following notes, from the British Journal on Photography, 

 on a subject of great interest both to the photographer and 

 naturalist, may direct attention to a class of pictures that, 

 if anything like complete, would be most valuable and 

 instructive. 



Will some of our amateurs give a little time in the bush 

 to search for Australian birds' nests and obtain negatives ? 

 We believe that if they get a few good ones there will be 

 created the desire to add to the series from time to time until 

 a representative collection is got together. 



Before the Leeds Photographic Society on Thursday, 

 October 7, Mr. Archibald C. Beilby delivered his lecture on 

 the above subject, observing that his title might well have 

 been a neglected branch of the art. Those who reside in the 

 country have the best opportunity of doing this work. The 

 exposure of a few plates brings back thoughts of your boyhood, 

 making you feel young again, but better able to appreciate 

 the wonderful works of nature. It takes up a lot of time ; 

 but, as a member of a photographic society, you can not only 

 gain pleasure yourself, but entertain and instruct your friends 

 too. " I hope to be able to make a complete set of British 

 birds' nests. This season has been a poor one for variety ; 

 plenty of blackbirds, but other kinds were scarce in the vicinity 

 of Roundhay. If you are a naturalist, by all means photo- 

 graph the nests just as you find them in situ, with a stereoscopic 

 camera. When you come across a nest with two eggs in, if 

 you can add another of the same kind it will make a better 

 picture, and if it is in a safe situation wait until the bird in- 

 creases the number to three or four ; on the other hand, if you 

 do not make the best of the opportunity you will probably lose 

 it, for with cats, hawks, rats, weasels, small boys, and even 

 the cuckoo, they have a perfect struggle for existence. We 

 ought to value our feathered friends. The difficulties of 

 photographing a nest in a tree of considerable height were 

 overcome by a piece of apparatus, the joint production of Mr. 

 James Taylor and myself. It consists of a board which will 

 fasten to a ladder or branch of a tree in any position. One of 

 my slides shows the support in position and in use ; a hand 

 camera, with focussing arrangement, is the best kind to use, 

 one that will work with a long or short focus lens, the latter 

 being of most service. Besides the ordinary sliding-leg tripod, 

 it is advisable to have one eight or nine feet long, for use on 

 the outside branches of trees. Never tie a branch down with- 

 out first taking out the eggs. On one occasion I did, with 

 about 112 pounds' pressure, and then found it was a little too 



