THE SENSE OF SMELL IN BIRDS. 369 



portable hnt within range and installed myself there, calculating upon 

 the prompt return of the doves, which my arrival had driven into the 

 neighboring wood. Accordingly, after a short time I saw them light 

 on an oak close by and then successively descend to the fruit trees of 

 the garden, and one of them even alighted directly on the head of a 

 Brussels sprout cabbage. But instead of pecking at the leaves, as I 

 had always seen them do, while watching them from a window of the 

 house, he kept still with his head up as if disquieted at something 

 unusual. Then all of a sudden he flew away at the verj moment when 

 several of his companions were coming to join him. This gave the 

 whole flock notice to depart, and away they all flew, going back to the 

 oak, and directly after leaving altogether. I was much surprised, 

 because the day before. I had several times seen these birds when they 

 had been dispersed by the coming of the gardener return as soon as 

 he was gone, so that their present fright must have had some other 

 reason. No bird of prey could have been about, because if there had 

 been any the barnyard cocks would have given the signal. But I 

 noticed that the wind was from the northeast, and 1 had placed my 

 hut in the best place to hide it, but precisely so that the wind blew 

 from it to the bed of Brussels sprouts. So I concluded that the first 

 dove had scented me and had let the others know it, and that they 

 bad taken warning. 



That evening I carried mv hut over to the west side, where it was 

 much more prominently in sight, but so as to be to the leeward of the 

 bed of Brussels cabbages. The next da}^, at dawn, in going to my hut, 

 I scared away three doves which had already lit there to feed. 

 Snow had fallen during the night, and the thermometer stood at 14° F. 

 1 had not been in my place more than half an hour when the three 

 doves came back and exposed themselves to my fire without the 

 smallest distrust. 



No more came till 3 o'clock. Losing patience, I was just leaving 

 the hut, when I saw that a large flock had passed over the garden, and 

 having described a curve, was lighting on the oaks of a wood some 

 hundreds of yards away. I went back in haste, and putting my eye 

 to the loophole, set myself to watching the birds, which I could indis- 

 tinctly see among the frosty branches. I guessed that they had spied 

 the terminals of the Brussels sprout plants sticking out of the snow, 

 and that that was the reason of their halt; and I was right, for the doves 

 soon came to the nearest trees, and very shortly the whole flock, which 

 was larger than that of the day before, one after another, took their 

 places on the sprouts. The very first comers set to feeding quite 

 calmly, without the smallest symptom of hesitation, and I could soon 

 choose the most compact group to aim at from among fifty or more, 



I fear I may have dwelt at too great length upon details more inter- 

 esting to a hunter than to a scientific man; but they seem to me well 

 SM 99 24 



