18 



SHARP EYES. 



than to cut off the top and work his way downward, 

 or to gnaw into the sides for three-quarters of an inch 

 in the face of many armed [spiny] shields. He whirls it 

 bottom upward in a twinkling, and then proceeds to 

 cut through the thin and tender bases of the scales, and 

 each stroke tells, laying bare at once a couple of seeds. 

 Thus he strips it as easily as if its scales were chaff, and 

 so rapidiy, twirling it as he advances, that you cannot 

 tell how he does it till you drive him off, and inspect 

 his unfinished work." 









