256 BESIDE THE GREAT SALT LAKE. 



wariness of her family ; her object being, as I 

 suppose, carefully to point out where her nest 

 was not. She circled about me, taking no pains 

 to avoid my gaze. Now she squawked on the 

 right ; then she acted " the anxious mother " on 

 the left; this time it was from the clump of 

 rosebushes in front that she rose hurriedly, as if 

 that was her home ; again it was from over my 

 head, in the chokecherry-tree, that she bustled 

 off, as if she had been " caught in the act." It 

 was a brilliant, a wonderful performance, a 

 thousand times more effective than trailing or 

 any of the similar devices by which an uneasy 

 bird mother draws attention from her brood. It 

 was so well done that at each separate manoeuvre 

 I could hardly be convinced by my own eyes 

 that the particular spot indicated did not conceal 

 the little homestead I was seeking. Several 

 times I rose triumphant, feeling sure that " now 

 indeed I do know where it is," and proceeded at 

 once to the bush she had pointed out with so 

 much simulated reluctance, parted the branches, 

 and looked in, only to find myself deceived again. 

 Her acting was marvelous. With just the prop- 

 erly anxious, uneasy manner, she would steal 

 behind a clump of leaves into some retired spot 

 admirably adapted for a chat's nest, and after 

 a moment sneak out at the other side, and fly 

 away near the ground, exactly as all bird-stu- 



