Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 6 (1902).djvu/149

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book is another evidence of the advance made in ornithological bionomics by the aid of Photography. It also inculcates a new method of "control," not by making a captive of the bird or nest, but by the displacement of the latter from its original position to one that affords a better field for observation.

"If the nest like that of an Oriole is fastened to the leafy branch of a tree, the nesting bough is cut off, and the whole is then carefully lowered to the ground and set up in a good light, so that the branch with the nest shall occupy the same relative positions which they did before. The nest, however, is now but four instead of forty or more feet from the ground." Other nests are treated on the same principle and brought within the vicinity of a green tent, "which effectually conceals the student, together with his camera and entire outfit." In fact, when the arrangements are successfully completed, the author and his camera are frequently not beyond an actual distance of about two feet from the nest. This transaction has produced a number of charming illustrations, and, what is more, these have portrayed many novel attitudes in bird life. The young Belted Kingfishers and their habit of walking backwards is a case in point, and for the probable origin of that procedure we must refer to the book itself. In the chapter on "The Force of Habit" are several singular records. In watching hour by hour the American Robins visiting their young, Mr. Herrick found that the male invariably came to the right side of the nest, while the female did not pursue that strange predilection. In "Taming Wild Birds without a Cage" the author has described many traits known to all of us who can, now and then, practise that difficult human feat of "keeping quiet." The rest in the woods when tired out has