ii4 ODD HOURS WITH NATURE 



is capable of tricks, and flatters himself that he 

 is just the bird whom those tricks won't take in. 

 When I descended upon the pea lines, thread reel 

 in hand, the marauders hastened to the nearest 

 tree and watched. What was done they could 

 not see, for a black thread against black ground 

 is very nearly invisible. But they showed by their 

 prolonged conference that they suspected some 

 nefarious plot. At last one made a cautious 

 descent, and, finding nothing wrong at the first 

 hop, reported all well. Then the others, with 

 varying degrees of doubt and boldness, ventured 

 upon the ground. Suddenly two found the thread 

 against their legs, and with a shriek, " I told you 

 so," they started away, followed on the instant by 

 the whole flock. The succeeding tree conference 

 was loud and prolonged. In every variant of 

 sparrow language they assured one another that 

 they were convinced all along there was 

 devilry afoot, that if they were not wonderfully 

 clever the last sparrow among them would have 

 been snared, that nevertheless the thing was im- 

 possible considering the brightness and alertness 

 of their intellects, and that once again the human 

 enemy was to be baulked in his fiendish desire 

 for sparrow pie. So the sweet peas are left alone. 

 The blackbird is a creature of another nature. 

 When he runs his legs against a string and falls 

 over it, he just gets upon his feet again and resumes 

 work. A well-constructed scare may keep him 

 away for half an hour, but an object which does 

 not move has no permanent terrors for him, and 

 soon he will be found perched upon it. At another 



