Page:Condor12(6).djvu/25

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Nov., 191o BIRD NOTES FROhi SOUTIIWESTERN MONTANA 203 tained two pictures on this first occasion, but never got another after that. The male gave me a good picture, but the female thrust her head into the shadow of the opening. Efforts to take pictures of the young were also useless, for up to the day they left the nest, June 26, they would become frightened as soon as handled and couldn't be induced to perch or pose in a satisfactory manner. We moved camp again June 27, going south to Little Pipestone Creek. Here the country was less rocky in character and the elevation somewhat lower, 5,200 feet. There were many open grassy hills iutersperst with clumps of tall firs and groves of aspen. worthy until July thyroidefts ) about them. The nest very noisy. It seemed at soon uotist a dead I had little time now to hunt for nests and found nothing note- 6. Then I saw a pair of Williamson Sapsuckers (?S?hyrapicus a group of old fir stumps, and soon discovered the nest in one of was about eight feet up and contained young that were first as tho there was no chance to photograph these birds; but I limb on a nearby stump, to which I believed I could fasten the l?'ig. 71. V?'ILLIAMSO.? SAPSUCKERS AT NEST HOLE; T?'O PICTURES: camera. WheH the opportunity came, I placed the camera on its tripod, straddled the tripod over the limb and lasht the whole thing firmly to limb and tree with a long rope. I experienced some difficulty climbing and focusing without disturb- ing some of the ropes, but I flually managed to do it. Even now the light was not very good, for there Was less than an hour during the day when the nest hole was in sunlight and this light was not from in back of the camera but to one side so that it produced long shadows. The birds were not very shy and I believe I might have easily workt without a blind, but I had little time to waste in waiting, so bilt the blind and attacht a thred to the camera. Even now I had the trQuble of coming out and climblug the tree to change the film after each picture. The young birds were well grown and the parents did not enter the nest hole but merely thrust their heds into the opening to feed the young. Occasionally while the parents were away a young bird would come to the