THE ROBINS NEST? 3 
be trouble for 
the poor birds. 
But the Wise 
Man said: “Put 
Wire netting 
around, so that 
the cat cannot 
reach it.” We 
asked the car- 
penter to do 
this, “and, -al- 
though he 
thought it might 
disturb the birds so that they would 
forsake the nest, he said he would try 
it. 
“Tf the mother-bird leaves her nest, 
then I will take it,” said the artist, 
“and paint a picture of it, with the 
three blue eggs. If she stays there, 
she will be anxious and scold if the 
cats come near, and perhaps it will be 
just as well if she gives it up now.” 
But the mother-bird allowed the 
carpenter to put up the wire protec- 
tion and to cut a little window in the 
side of the studio so that the artist 
could set up her camera to photograph 
the nest. 
At first it was impossible to obtain 
a picture of the bird on her nest; for 
when the little board slide which cov- 
ered the window was pushed back, she 
would fly away before the picture 
could be taken. So the Wise Man 
was consulted again, and he advised 
having a piece of glass placed back of 
an opening just large enough for the 
camera lens, so that the birds would 
become accustomed to the glass eye; 
then after a while the glass could be 
withdrawn and they would not be 
afraid of the lens. 
This being done, two small peep- 
holes were bored in the side of the 
barn, and it was easy to watch all the 
housekeeping operations without in 
the least disturbing the birds. When 
a picture was to be taken, some one 
would sit near one hole and the artist 
near the other, and they would take 
turns in watching. The camera was 
all ready for an instantaneous expo- 
sure, and when the bird appeared it 
READY FOR BREAKFAST. § 
POKING DOWN THE WORM. 
