58 SHARP EYES. 



head. This would not do. Compressing the fish's 

 throat would not shut off its breath under such cir- 

 cumstances, so the wily serpent tried to get ashore 

 with it, and after several attempts succeeded in 

 effecting a landing on a flat rock. But the fish died 

 hard. Cat-fish do not give up the ghost in a hurry. 

 Its throat was becoming congested, but the snake's 

 distended jaws must have ached. It was like a pet- 

 rified gape. Then the spectators became very curious 

 and close in their scrutiny, and the snake determined 

 to withdraw from the public gaze and finish the busi- 

 ness in hand to its own notions. But, when gentty 

 but firmly remonstrated with by my friend with his 

 walking-stick, it dropped the fish and retreated in 

 high dudgeon beneath a stone in the bed of the creek. 

 The fish, with a swollen and angry throat, went its 

 way also. 



Birds, I say, have wonderfully keen eyes. Throw 

 a fresh bone or a piece of meat upon the snow in 

 winter, and see how soon the crows will discover it 

 and be on hand. If it be near the house or barn, 

 the crow that first discovers it will alight near it, to 

 make sure he is not deceived ; then he will go away, 

 and soon return with a companion. The two alight 

 a few yards from the bone, and after some delay, 

 during which the vicinity is sharply scrutinized, one 

 of the crows advances boldly to within a few feet of 

 the coveted prize. Here he pauses, and if no trick 

 is discovered, and the meat be indeed meat, he seizes 

 it and makes off. 



