MA Y MUSES 89 



darted forth, returned, and alighted near the other. 

 He then without haste went to her, and her beak 

 met his. The incident was so brief that the tele- 

 scope could not be used ; but one might perhaps 

 fairly infer that he had found and had bestowed a 

 love-gift. She accepted it with the same sedate- 

 ness that the female flycatchers, chaffinches, and 

 robin had exhibited in the like circumstances. 



A commoner interesting sight is that of parent 

 birds attracting to themselves the attention of 

 some enemy, in order to save their young. One 

 day a willow wren fell flop on a dusty road, and 

 not two yards from me. I thought it must be a 

 young bird or an injured one, and stooped to pick 

 it up. The creature scrambled through the dust 

 to the other side of the road, and then seemed just 

 able to rise into the hedge. It was proved to be 

 an old bird in vigorous condition, and merely 

 wished to entice me from the vicinity of its nest. 

 I saw a similar method adopted by a pair of 

 blackbirds on behalf of their young. A cat was 

 frequently stalking them, and when she appeared 

 one of the old birds would feign distress and flap 

 its wings on the ground. Instantly the cat would 



