104 BIRDS AND MAN 



the trees were straight and tall, most of them with 

 slender, smooth boles. Standing there, my figure 

 must have looked very conspicuous to all the small 

 birds in the place ; but for a time it seemed to me 

 that the wood wren paid not the slightest atten- 

 tion to my presence; that as he wandered hither 

 and thither in sunlight and shade at his own sweet 

 will, my motionless form was no more to him than 

 a moss-grown stump or grey upright stone. By 

 and by it became apparent that the bird knew me 

 to be no stump or stone, but a strange living crea- 

 ture whose appearance greatly interested him ; 

 for invariably, soon after I had taken up my position, 

 his careless little flights from twig to twig and 

 from tree to tree brought him nearer, and then 

 nearer, and finally near me he would remain for 

 most of the time. Sometimes he would wander 

 for a distance of forty or fifty yards away, but 

 before long he would wander back and be with 

 me once more, often perching so near that the 

 most delicate shadings of his plumage were as 

 distinctly seen as if I had had him perched on my 

 hand. 



The human form seen in an unaccustomed place 

 always excites a good deal of attention among the 

 birds ; it awakes their curiosity, suspicion, and 



