A HED-HEADEi) foACIlER. 213 



it, even after it was aiulioivd in the eraek. 

 Then, observing that, ahliough a k)ni;- way off, 

 I was interested in his doings, he slipped around 

 behind the trunk, and ])eered at nie first from 

 one side, then in an instant from the other. 



The next performanee with whii*h this bird 

 entertained me was poaching upon his cousin's 

 preserves. Sitting one evening on the veranda, 

 looking over the meadow, 1 heard his low 

 ^'kr-r-r," and saw him alight upon the sapsuek- 

 er's elm. Whether he stund)led upon the feast 

 or went with malice aforethought, he was not 

 slow to appreciate the charms of his position. It 

 may have been the nectar from the tree, or the 

 minute victims of its attractions, I could not tell 

 which, but something pleased him, for he de- 

 voted himself to the task of exploring the tiny 

 cups his industrious relative had carved, driv- 

 ing away one of the younger members of the 

 faniilv already in possession. The young bird 

 could not refuse to go before the big bcidv and 

 determined manner of the stranger, l)ut he did 

 refuse to stay away; and every time he was 

 ousted he returned to the tree, though he settled 

 on a different place. Before the red-head hail 

 shown any signs of exhausting his find, the sap- 

 sucker himself a])peared, and at once fell u])on 

 his biom'r cousin with savag-e cries. Disturbed 

 so rudely from his pleasing occu])ation, tin' in- 



