82 MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN. 



TENTH WEEK. 



I THINK I have discovered the way to 

 keep peas from the birds. I tried the scare- 

 crow plan, in a way which I thought would 

 outwit the shrewdest bird. The brain of the 

 bird is not large ; but it is all concentrated 

 on one object, and that is the attempt to 

 elude the devices of modern civilization 

 which injure his chances of food. I knew 

 that, if I put up a complete stuffed man, 

 the bird would detect the imitation at once ; 

 the perfection of the thing would show him 

 that it was a trick. People always overdo 

 the matter when they attempt deception. I 

 therefore hung some loose garments, of a 

 bright color, upon a rake-head, and set them 

 up among the vines. The supposition was, 

 that the bird would think there was an 

 effort to trap him, that there was a man 

 behind, holding up these garments, and 



