Page:Bird-lore Vol 06.djvu/154

 The Nesting Habits of the White-tailed Ptarmigan in;

In 1892, learning that a photograph of this bird on its nest was in de- mand, I spent another month in the search. Only old nests were found. One of these was under some rocks but on the grass. It was in one of the places where the sun melted the Show off. while the rock kept it from falling there. The search was continued one tnonth every year. hut no nests containing eggs were found till [901.

At that time I was carrying a small camera and taking photographs of all kinds of nests that came in mv way while looking for Ptarmigan. I had

\\'HITE~TAILED t-vntmlcax u\ NEST

started south from Echo Lake, through the timber. toward the top of the mountain, A Ruby-crowned Kinglet was seen carrying moss and its nest ,discovered and tree marked.

On reaching timber-line a Junco was seen building, and a search was made for a loose stone to mark the spot for a photograph when the set was complete. In the search I was just about to put my hand on a Ptarmi< gan when Isaw what it was. I then made two exposures with the small camera and left the camera on top of a large rock to mark the spot, the nest being three steps and one foot due south from the mark, Iwent to the cabin at the lake and got the large camera and tripod When I returned I took three rather shorter steps. as I supposed, and looked for the bird or its