72 UNDER THE OPEN SKY 



then, and a big white grub still later that he 

 gathers. And here he does the farmer the 

 utmost service. He is quite a stately bird 

 as he walks through the rows. Most of our 

 common birds that fly well walk indiffer- 

 ently, and are very apt to hop along the 

 ground, lifting both feet at once. But the 

 blackbird walks deliberately and with dig- 

 nified poise; he also flies very well indeed. 

 Even here he has a marked trait of his own, 

 for when he has no great distance to go 

 he keels his tail. until the end of it looks like 

 the letter V. To these little eccentricities 

 of manner he adds a cast of eye that is ab- 

 solutely awesome. That a blackbird should 

 have a bright yellow eye seems altogether 

 out of place, and it gives him a look of pert 

 inquisitiveness that with his fearlessness 

 and his eternal cackle makes him quite an 

 original character. 



ARE BLACKBIRDS OUR ENEMIES ? 



The long debate as to whether the black- 

 bird is the farmer's friend or his foe has, I 

 suppose, been fairly well settled by this 



