THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS. 33 



wing. You vagrant fly, you purblind moth, beware 

 how you come within his range ! Observe his attitude, 

 the curious movement of his head, his "eye in a fine 

 frenzy rolling, glancing from heaven to earth, from 

 earth to heaven." 



► His sight is microscopic and his aim sure. Quick 

 as thought he has seized his victim and is back to his 

 perch. There is no strife, no pursuit, — one fell swoop 

 and the matter is ended. That little sparrow, as you 

 will observe, is less skilled. It is the Socialis, and he 

 finds his subsistence properly in various seeds and 

 the larvae of insects, though he occasionally has higher 

 aspirations, and seeks to emulate the pewee, com- 

 mencing and ending his career as a fly-catcher by an 

 awkward chase after a beetle or " miller." He is hunt- 

 ing around in the grass now, I suspect, with the desire 

 to indulge this favorite whim. There ! — the opportu- 

 nity is afforded him. Away goes a little cream-colored 

 meadow-moth in the most tortuous course he is capa- 

 ble of, and away goes Socialis in pursuit. The contest 

 is quite comical, though I dare say it is serious enough 

 to the moth. The chase continues for a few yards, 

 when there is a sudden rushing to cover in the grass, 

 — then a taking to wing again, when the search has 

 become too close, and the moth has recovered his wind. 

 Socialis chirps angrily, and is determined not to be 

 beaten. Keeping, with the slightest effort, upon the 

 heels of the fugitive, he is ever on the point of halting 

 to snap him up, but never quite does it, — and so, 

 3 



