A WINGED CHUM 183 



closely a bird watches a person's eyes. In ap- 

 proaching a bird, one may get quite close by look- 

 ing in another direction. An observer can walk 

 straight to the place where a bird is perched, so 

 long as the head be turned away, and the bird will 

 show no fear. The instant the glance is shifted, 

 the bird is flown. One of the most remarkable 

 things in bird-life is the manner in which the birds 

 will carry on their ordinary business of feeding 

 or nest-making, of courting or singing, with utter 

 indifference to the presence of other people in the 

 neighborhood, as long as these latter are ab- 

 sorbed in their own affairs. Yet, if but one person 

 present turns a cautious and observing eye on his 

 feathered neighbors, with a whirr of wings they 

 are gone. 



Shan stayed motionless for half an hour, which 

 was all the time he could spare, but, moveless as 

 he tried to be, the Hen-Thrush was far his su- 

 perior. She did not move at all. The quick 

 breathing could be seen heaving the feathers, but 

 Shan's acutest attention could not discern the 

 quiver of a muscle. Even when he slowly edged 

 away, she remained quiet and the bird must have 

 been hungry, too, for the male Thrush had been 

 too alarmed to bring her any food. 



