A POT-HUNTER'S DEFIANCE 65 



of flowers, but still more because of his swift-dart- 

 ing flight. 



The Chuck- Will 's-Widow, right in front of 

 Shan's eyes, needed protective coloration. Hunt- 

 ing mainly in the early morning and evening, and 

 making a nest on the ground, it was all-important 

 to her that she should be as little visible as pos- 

 sible. The boy had carefully surveyed his points, 

 however, and, remembering that her head was just 

 by a certain twig and the tail exactly in line with 

 an orange toadstool, bit by bit he was able to 

 puzzle out the shape of the bird, like a figure in a 

 hidden picture. 



Snatching off his straw hat, the boy made a sud- 

 den dart f orAvard, in the hope of catching the bird, 

 though he was handicapped by the burden of the 

 terrapin swinging by its tail in his left hand. 

 Before he could touch her, however, the bird rose 

 on silent wings and flew a few feet into the bushes, 

 where she suddenly dropped to earth and fluttered 

 away feebly as if she had a broken wing. 



The boy knew this ruse. 



*'You don't fool me that way!" he exclaimed, 

 "it's not you I want, it's the eggs I'm after." 



At almost the same moment he thought he heard 

 a noise on the path behind him, but decided it must 



