82 MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN. 



TENTH WEEK. 



T THINK I have discovered the way 

 -** to keep peas from the birds. I 

 tried the . scare-crow plan, in a way 

 which I thought would out-wit the 

 shrewdest bird. The brain of the bird 

 is not large ; but it is all concentrated on 

 one object, and that is the attempt to 

 elude the devices of modern civilization 

 which injure his chances of food. I 

 knew, that, if I put up a complete stuffed 

 man, the bird would detect the imita 

 tion at once : the perfection of the thing 

 would show him that it was a trick. 

 People always overdo the matter when 

 they attempt deception. I therefore 

 hung some loose garments, of a bright 

 color, upon a rake-head, and set them 



