THE TOM -TITS AND THEIR BOX 109 



wrong? Am I in my sober senses? The hole was 

 here five minutes since, and it is gone. Did ever 

 any tit hear of a hole which shut itself? " 



Then after rubbing his eyes he had another 

 inspection. Flying up, he tried the off-side of 

 the box, but there was no hole there. From the 

 top of the box, by the sure and certain method of 

 the alternate eye, he once more inspected the 

 remains of the hole, and finally popped into the 

 box itself, saying as he vanished : " Well, I never 1 

 If this isn't the hole after all." But the interior 

 was new and strange, and he emerged declaring 

 in emphatic soliloquy that never since the begin- 

 ning of the world had such a thing happened to 

 any little bird. Clearly the situation demanded 

 the best advice, and on swift wing he sought it. 



Inside of three minutes the tit, whose cosmos 

 had been shaken, returned with his mate, the two 

 in rapid conversation. 



" I tell you," he was saying, as they reached 

 the rose-tree, " it is gone, vanished, shut." 



" And I tell you," the lady remarked, " that 

 those spring caterpillars have been too much for 

 you. I find them heady myself." 



" Well, look for yourself." 



" Follow me, you old stupid, and I'll soon put 



you Eh 1 Great sparrow-hawks ! It should be 



here here here ! " 



The tom-tit laughed a twittering, irritating 

 laugh, and said : " Well, put me right ! " 



" It's gone," she admitted. 



14 Oh, not at all. Those spring caterpillars have 

 been too much for you." 



