A BLACKBIRD RUSE. 99 



dent involuntarily clears his own throat as he 

 listens. 



I was surprised to find the blackbirds so 

 beautiful. When the sun was near setting, and 

 struck across the grass its level rays, they were 

 really exquisite ; their heads a brilliant metallic 

 blue, and all back of that rich bronze or purple, 

 all over as glossy as satin. The little dames 

 are somewhat smaller, and a shade less finely 

 dressed than their bumptious mates ; but that 

 does not make them meek far from it ! and 

 they are not behind their partners in eccentric 

 freaks. Sometimes one would apparently at- 

 tempt a joke by starting to fly, and passing so 

 near the head of one of the dignitaries on the 

 ground that he would involuntarily start and 

 " duck " ingloriously. On one occasion a pair 

 were working peaceably together at the corn, 

 when she flirted a bit of dirt so that it flew 

 toward him. He dashed furiously at her. She 

 gave one hop which took her about a foot away, 

 and then it appeared that she coveted a kernel 

 of corn that was near him when the offense was 

 given, for she instantly jumped back and pounced 

 upon it as if she expected to be annihilated. He 

 ran after her and drove her off, but she kept her 

 prize. 



Eating one of those hard grains was no joke 

 to anybody without teeth, and it was a serious 



