SHARP EYES, 59 



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 they found my corn, and after that they 

 came daily and partook of it, holding the kernels 

 under their feet upon the limbs of the trees and 

 pecking 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 con- 

 venient 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 bits of meat that still ad- 

 hered 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 re- 

 mark 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 :ftew to me ; 

 he hopped along the limb to a small cavity 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 and flew away. I had seen some- 

 thing like feathers eddying slowly down as the hawk 

 ate, and on approaching the spot found the feathers 

 f a sparrow here and there clinging to the bushes 



