A CLEVEE LITTLE ROGUE. 85 



Finding himself alone again, and no more 

 dainties coming his way, the young dipper 

 turned for entertainment to the swift-running 

 streamlet. He went down to the edge, stepping 

 easily, never hopping ; but when the shallow 

 edge of the water ran over his pretty white toes, 

 he hastily scampered back, as if afraid to ven- 

 ture farther. The clever little rogue was only 

 coquetting, however, for when he did at last 

 plunge in he showed himself very much at 

 home. He easily crossed a turbulent bit of the 

 brook, and when he was carried dowji a little he 

 scrambled without trouble up on a stone. All 

 the time, too, he was peering about after food ; 

 and in fact it was plain that his begging was a 

 mere pretense, he was perfectly well able to 

 look out for himself. Through the whole of 

 these scenes not one of the birds, old or young, 

 had paid the slightest attention to me, though I 

 was not ten feet from them. 



During the time I had been so absorbed in 

 my delightful study of domestic life in the ouzel 

 family, the other interesting resident of the 

 canon the elusive caiion wren had been for- 

 gotten. Now, as I noticed that the day was 

 waning, I thought of him again, and, tearing 

 myself away from the enticing picture, leaving 

 the pretty baby to his own amusements, I re- 

 turned to the famous Pillars, and planted my- 



