clutcliiDg a small iron bracket in the side of the 

 house, and drilling a hole through the rain-pipe ! 



He was hammering like a tinsmith, and already, 

 when discovered, had cut a hole half as big as 

 one's fist. He had not tried to drill before ; he 

 had been happy with the sound. Something, 

 however, either the size, shape, or ring of the 

 pipe, suggested "holes" to his wild wits, and 

 right through the pipe he had gone. 



It was not grubs that he was after. Maybe 

 somewhere in his mad head was the remote 

 notion of a nest. Where, however, could he 

 have found a mate as crazy as himself — crazy 

 enough to have built in such a place ? Young 

 Mrs. Flicker is an exceedingly spoony bride ; 

 love in a cottage is just to her liking ; but I 

 have yet to see one who would go to the length 

 of a rain-pipe. 



The crazy bird was finally scared away, leaving 

 several indignant citizens behind, who heartily 

 wished they had taken the law into their hands 

 and slain him as a menace to the common- 

 wealth. 



[185] 



