34 UPON THE WOOD ROAD 



her to reappear on the other side. No doubt, 

 as soon as she found herself out of my sight 

 she ran like a mouse, keeping the stone or 

 log well between us as a screen. Meanwhile 

 her mate aided her efforts nobly by making 

 himself most conspicuous, fidgeting about on 

 his bush, mounting a stump and singing 

 " teacher ! teacher ! teacher ! " at the top 

 of his voice, as if calling for help, and in 

 every way trying to keep my attention fixed 

 upon him. After a while the other party to 

 the little game would fly up from a point far 

 away from where she had disappeared, with 

 an empty beak and an innocent air of never 

 having dreamed of a nest, and begin to 

 " smack," as when she first discovered me. 

 Then it was her turn to keep me diverted 

 while her mate slipped away. Sometimes 

 they embarrassed me further by separating 

 widely, so that I could not keep my eyes on 

 both. In fact, after some hours given to the 

 beguilements of this brave pair, and much 

 searching among the dead leaves in places 

 they had apparently pointed out, I was 

 obliged to confess myself outwitted by the 

 clever little actors. 



