The ‘Birthdays’ section of today’s Canberra Times notes the birthday, in 1866, of Ramsay MacDonald, to be the first Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. His son, Malcom MacDonald was a Minister in Churchill’s National Government
before being posted as High Commissioner to Ottawa. While there he wrote a chatty little book, ‘Birds of Brewery Creek’, about his observations of the local bird life. Later, while Governor-General in Malaya he wrote a book about the birds there, and then,
while High Commissioner to India, ‘Birds in my Indian Garden’. Both those were illustrated by photos by his friend the Singapore-based Christina Loke. The photos are excellent examples of the bird photography of the times, being heavily reliant on the now-discredited
practice of staking out nesting bird as a means of getting a ‘close shot’. Christina complained about almost collapsing from the heat after hours in the hide, although sadly the implication is that nesting birds were kept away from the nest for similarly
long periods.
