6 
THE CONDOR 
VOL. VI 
displayed her to good advantage and pressed the bulb. Another occasion I must 
always remember with keenest regret was when the presence of a Baur mocker 
should have afforded a couple of extremely interesting photographs. The story 
runs like this. After spending a forenoon tramping over the piled up lava and 
obtaining various photographs, I reached the eliff above the beach where our boat 
was waiting. As I sprang across a chasm a night heron jumped from a well built 
nest and stood on a limb of the tree squawking at me. Seeing a chance to get 
bird, eggs and nest on one plate the opportunity was eagerly grasped. But much 
to my disappointment after I had moved up closer for the third time and was 
beautifully situated for a picture, the bird deliberately hopped down and walked 
away. A nearby mocker however, seeing my evident anxiety, came to the rescue, 
and dropping down into the nest commenced picking at the eggs! This would 
have made a good picture, and I was only eight feet away, but the heron, seeing 
the impudence of Nesomimus, threw fear of the camera to the winds and stepping 
back to the edge of the nest afforded me the exquisite pleasure of pressing the 
bulb just as she was making a .stealthy poke at the intent mocker. Tnis was so 
NESOMIMUS 8AURI, TOWER ISLAND 
fine a subject, that I changed the camera slightly, focused carefully, rapidly slid in 
the plate-holder, yanked out the slide and obtained a view of heron and mocker 
fighting, on the same plate with the first picture! I finall}^ managed to get another 
view showing the mocker still in the nest with the heron in the background.'' 
Most of the small birds belong to the genera Geospiza or Certhidca, and as 
they build domed nests the birds are usually eoncealed from view while nesting. 
Of the other three or four genera, Myiarchus builds in cavities of tx&e?,a.nd. Dendro- 
ica so high up on slender limbs that photographing the nest is diffieult. Pyroccph- 
alns, the handsome little flycatcher, builds a pretty nest and can easily be photo- 
graphed on it whenever it is within reach. 
But when one starts on the water birds, subjects inexhaustible are ever pres- 
ent, and pictures without number can be secured showing bird life in all pha.ses. 
The bird affording the greatest variety of poses and nesting situations is the 
Neboux booby {Sala neboiixi). We were greatly surprised on Daphne Island to 
« See Bird Lore, Dec., 1903 for thi,s picture. — Kr>. 
