HUNTING WITH A CAMERA. 



THE SPRUCE GROUSE. 



W. ]•:. CAR LI. \. 



This bird is generally known throughout 

 the country as the " fool hen " — a name 

 always disagreeable to me; for while they 

 trust man to approach dangerously near, 

 they are so gentle and confiding, that one 

 soon grows attached to them, and the 



was on a nesting hen. which we found on 

 the mountain side. The first trial was 

 practically a failure; but after cutting the 

 grass around the not we succeeded in 

 getting some fair pictures, with the tele- 

 photo lens. When on the nest the grouse 



"THE CAMERA WAS FOCUSED ON THE LOG, AND WRIGHT CAREFULLY DROVE THE BIRU- 



TO THE LOG AND ALONG IT." 



name becomes correspondingly unpleasant. 

 Whether they are as tame in the presence 

 of wild animals, I am not sure: but do not 

 see how they could escape extinction if 

 they were. Yet they are very numerous 

 in and around the higher meadows. 



Y\ nile they are gentle, it is not easy to 

 get good photos of them: owing to their 

 choosing to stay so much in heavy shade, 

 where a fairly long exposure is necessary. 

 Our first attempt at photographing them 



sat perfectly still and the exposures varied 

 from jo seconds to I T _. minutes. 



The photo showing the hen walking 

 along the log is. I think, the best. The 

 camera was focused on the log, and Wright 

 carefully drove the bird to the log and 

 along it. The exposure was x /i second, 

 using a Zeiss VII., F12.5 at full opening. 

 So many instances are known of the ex- 

 treme gentleness of the spruce grouse, it 

 seems almost unnecessary to mention any 



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