118 " UPON THE TREE-TOP." 



When at last he flew, his small foe was upon 

 him. I thought it strange that of the twenty- 

 five or thirty birds which frequented the place, 

 among which were several known to fight the 

 crow, not one came to help. If the robins and 

 cat-birds and others whose territory he invaded 

 had united, they could have driven him away 

 at once, but perhaps mobbing is the exclusive 

 prerogative of the English house sparrow. 



The next encounter I saw was also early in 

 the morning. First I noticed a crow silently 

 fly over, and perch in the top of a pine-tree. It 

 was a singular place, and most undesirable ap- 

 parently, for it was in the middle of a clump of 

 top branches of about the same height. The 

 crow seemed to have trouble in adjusting him- 

 self among the hundreds of sharp needles that 

 pointed upward, changing his position and set- 

 tling himself with difficulty, but at length he 

 seemed satisfied with his arrangements, and 

 began his loud caw. In a moment the oriole 

 was after him, and I now guessed the reason of 

 his choice of seat. There were no surrounding 

 twigs which his foe could use as a base for of- 

 fensive operations, and moreover the bristling 

 needles which surrounded him offered very good 

 protection from the fiery little oriole, who found 

 it impossible to pursue his usual tactics. I was 

 amused to see the wary precautions of the crow, 



