THE CROW FAMILY 129 
back. The birds stepped one side, and he took 
his place again. 
Of course the birds were not half satisfied, and 
besides, one of them had not had even a taste. 
So they made ready to play the little trick again. 
Now see their fair play with one another! The 
bird who had coaxed the dog away had his 
turn at the head of the table, while another 
one did the teasing. They repeated this several 
times, and each time a different bird led the dog 
away. 
The major. was a trained observer, and he 
could tell the birds apart. One had a longer 
tail, another had a broken feather, and another 
was smaller. So he could easily see that each 
time a different bird had the best chance. He 
was sure they had planned the whole thing out. 
I once had a chance to study the ways of 
some magpies. The birds were busy in their 
nests, and I was well hidden and quiet, so they 
did not see me. I heard much soft, gentle talk 
from them, and at last a sweet song. I was 
much surprised at this, and hoped to know a 
good deal more about them, but the next time 
I called on them, they saw me. Such a row as 
they made! They flew around my head, shout- 
ing and screaming at me, till I was glad to get 
out of the grove. I could not blame the birds, 
