66 WITH THE U. S. NATURALISTS 



be the bird, fluttering along the ground in the hope 

 of making the boy follow her. This well-worn 

 trick would undoubtedly have fooled the bird's 

 natural enemies, such as a fox or a 'coon, since 

 the animal would be more eager for the wounded 

 mother than for the eggs and would chase after the 

 flutering bird. Then, when the intruder had been 

 decoyed sufficiently far from the nest, the wounded 

 wing would suddenly become whole and the bird 

 would wing her way back in powerful flight, out of 

 reach of the murderous jaws. And, by the time 

 the animal had returned to the nest, the eggs 

 would be no longer there, the mother having car- 

 ried them away in her capacious mouth. 



Shan wanted the eggs and he knew better than 

 to follow, even with his glance, either the fluttering 

 bird or the noise which he had thought he heard 

 on the path behind. He kept his gaze absolutely 

 fixed on the spot whence the bird seemed to have 

 flown, advancing, meanwhile, with shuffling steps 

 of not more than a few inches at a time. This 

 careful progress brought him to the spot where 

 the bird had been sitting, and there, as he expected, 

 were two dull white eggs with broT\m spots and 

 markings, looking exactly like the faded and 

 washed-out leaves of the previous season, on which 



