98 WHIMSICAL WAYS IN BIRD-LAND. 



changing his position at every hop with the 

 most dramatic action. If modern theories are 

 true, and bird eccentricities of dress and be- 

 havior are assumed to please and win the mate, 

 what must we think of the taste of our demure 

 little sisters in feathers ? 



Did I ever assert that the chat is shy ? Then 

 am I properly punished for not appreciating his 

 individuality, by having to admit that this pair 

 possessed not a trace of the quality. The singer 

 seemed to be always on exhibition ; and as for 

 his spouse, though she performed no evolutions, 

 she came boldly into sight, postured in the most 

 approved Delsartian style, uttered a harsh purr 

 or jerked out a " mew," with a sidewise fling of 

 her head which showed* the inside of her mouth 

 to be black, all for my benefit, and without 

 the slightest embarrassment. She made it ob- 

 vious to the dullest understanding, that while 

 she did not like spies, nor approve of human 

 curiosity in neighborhood matters, she was not 

 in the least afraid. 



As the days passed on, a change crept over 

 the chat family ; they became more retiring. 

 In my daily walk they were not so easily 

 found ; indeed, sometimes they were not to be 

 seen at all. When I did discover them, they 

 seemed very much engaged in private affairs, 

 with no time for displays of any sort. No 



