SCRAPING ACQUAINTANCE. 149 



study of the manual I set him down as proba- 

 bly the wbite-eyed vireo, — a conjecture which 

 further investigation confirmed. This vireo is 

 the very prince of stump-speakers, — fluent, 

 loud, and sarcastic, — and is well called the 

 politician, though it is a disappointment to learn 

 that the title was given him, not for his elo- 

 quence, but on account of his habit of putting 

 pieces of newspaper into his nest. While I 

 stood peering into the thicket, a man whom I 

 knew came along the road, and caught me thus 

 disreputably emploj^ed. Without doubt he 

 thought me a lazy good-for-nothing ; or pos- 

 sibly (being more charitable) he said to him- 

 self, " Poor fellow ! he 's losing his mind." 



Take a gun on your shoulder, and go wan- 

 dering about the woods all day long, and you 

 will be looked upon with respect, no matter 

 though you kill nothing bigger than a chip- 

 munk ; or stand by the hour at the end of a 

 fishing-pole, catching nothing but mosquito- 

 bites, and your neighbors will think no ill of 

 you. But to be seen staring at a bird for five 

 minutes together, or picking road-side weeds ! 

 — well, it is fortunate there are asylums for the 

 crazy. Not unlikely the malady will grow upon 

 him ; and who knows how soon he may become 

 dangerous? Something must be wrong about 

 that to which we are unaccustomed. Blowing 



