96 IN THE MIDDLE COUNTRY. 



had no mercy on the morning's sleepiness. The 

 secret is a present interest. What may be 

 going on somewhere out of sight and hearing 

 in the world is a matter of perfect indifference ; 

 what is heard and seen at the moment is an ar- 

 gument that no one can resist. 



I got my hint by the accident of some shelled 

 corn being left on the ground before my win- 

 dow, and so attracting a four o'clock party, 

 consisting of blackbirds, blue jays, and doves. 

 I noticed the corn, but did not think of the 

 pleasure it would give me, until the next morn- 

 ing, when I was awakened about four o'clock by 

 loud and excited talk in blackbird tones, and 

 hurried to the window, to find that I had half 

 the birds of the neighborhood before me. 



Most in number, and most noisy, were the 

 common blackbirds, who just at that time were 

 feeding their young in a grove of evergreens 

 back of the house, where they had set up their 

 nurseries in a crowd, as is their custom. It is 

 impossible to take this bird seriously, he is so 

 irresistibly ludicrous. His manners always sug- 

 gest to me the peculiar drollery of the negro ; 

 one of the old-fashioned sort, as we read of him, 

 and I promised myself some amusement from 

 the study of him at short range ; I was not dis- 

 appointed. 



My greeting as I took my seat at the open 



