AMONG MY TENANTS. 133 



to go in. When she did fly up at the hole she 

 could not get in, and half fell down. After this 

 failure she sat down on a branch, her tail tilting 

 as violently as a pipit's, and when Canello moved 

 around too much, took the excuse and flew off. 

 Her mate came back with her, but when he saw 

 us, he screamed and flew away, leaving her to 

 her fate. 



She sat looking at her hole a long time before 

 she tried it again, and when she did try, failed. 

 It was not till her fourth attempt that she suc- 

 ceeded. The hole was very much too small for 

 her, and the surface of the branch below it was 

 so smooth and slippery that it gave her nothing 

 to hold to in trying to wedge herself in. She 

 would fly against the hole and attempt to hook 

 her bill over the edge, and so draw herself up, 

 but her shoulders were too big for the space. 

 She tried to make them smaller by drawing down 

 her wings lengthwise. Once, in her efforts, she 

 spread her tail like a fan. After her third 

 struggle, she sat for a long time smoothing her 

 ruffled feathers, shaking herself, scratching her 

 face with her foot and trying to get her plumes 

 in order. 



While making her toilet she apparently 

 thought of a new plan. She went back to the 

 hole and, raising her claw, fastened it inside the 

 hole and with a spasmodic effort wedged in her 

 body and disappeared down the black hollow. 



