26 BIRDS THROUGH AN OPERA-GLASS. 



After a few moments he would drop it, smooth 

 his plumage, wheel about, whisk his tail, and per- 

 form various other antics for the delectation of 

 Mrs. Blackbird ; then he would suddenly dart off 

 to see what the robins were about. 



" During the weeks that followed, through nest- 

 making and incubation, the enmity between the 

 blackbirds and robins never abated. They were 

 ever wary and on the alert, and if it chanced that 

 either party, returning to his home, happened to 

 cross the ' Mason and Dixon's line,' the other was 

 out of his nest in a trice to drive off the intruder. 

 Sometimes I thought both parties courted these 

 occasions, though they would generally content 



