22 SHARP EYES. 



crow tliat 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 dis- 

 covered, and the meat be indeed meat, he seizes it and 

 makes off. 



One midwinter I cleared away the snow under an 

 apple-tree near the house and scattered some corn 

 there. I had not seen a blue-jay for weeks, yet that 

 very day one found my corn, and after that several 

 came daily and partook of it, holding the kernels 

 under their feet upon the limbs of the trees and peck- 

 ing them vigorously. 



Of course the woodpecker and his kind have sharp 

 eyes ; still I was surprised to see how quickly Downy 

 found out some bones that were placed in a convenient 

 place under the shed to be pounded up for the hens. 

 In going out to the barn I often disturbed him making 

 a meal off the bite of meat that still adhered to them. 



" Look intently enough at anything," said a poet to 

 me one day, " and you will see something that would 

 otherwise escape you." I thought of the remark as I 

 sat on a stump in an opening of the woods one spring 

 day. I saw a small hawk approaching ; he flew to a 

 tall tulip-tree and alighted on a large limb near the 

 top. He eyed me and I eyed him. Then the bird 

 disclosed a trait that was new to me : he hopped along 

 the limb to a small cavitv near the trunk, when he 

 thrust in his head and pulled out some small object 

 and fell to eating it. After he had partaken of it for 

 some minutes he put the remainder back in his larder 



