44 A MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 



I could soon tell, for he was not in the least 

 ashamed or secretive about it. He pulled it to 

 where a fallen wire lay very near the ground, 

 threw it partly over the wire, plainly as a hold 

 to pull against, and then jerked off a mouthful, 

 which he ate. Again and again did he fling it 

 over the wire, for it soon slipped off, and it was 

 perfectly plain that the object was to give him 

 purchase to pull against. Then I could see small 

 legs on the fragment, and a tail like a mouse's. 

 While I stood watching this feast in progress, a 

 call came from across the road. It was not loud, 

 and it was of a quality hard to express, not 

 exactly harsh, nor yet musical. It was instantly 

 answered by the two on the fence, and the one 

 I was watching dropped his fresh meat and 

 joined his parent. Then I examined the remains 

 of his meat, and found that it had reddish brown 

 fur, a tail not so long but resembling that of a 

 mouse. It was on the borders of a recently cut 

 field of wheat, and it was doubtless some species 

 of ground mouse, a common field mouse, I have 

 reason to believe. 



And that was the last I saw of the pretty 

 gray birds that year. 



