WAR ON THE FINCH. 73 



his door. The mocking-bird turned, looked 

 sharply at him, ruffled up his feathers, and 

 jumped heavily to the top of the cage, turning 

 one eye down upon his small foe with an air that 

 said, " Who is this midget that insults me ? " 

 The finch was surprised, but did not fully ap- 

 preciate the significance of this change of man- 

 ner until he was let out, when he found at once 

 that his amiable neighbor had suddenly become 

 an active enemy, who chased him around the 

 room till he panted for breath, and would not 

 allow him a moment's rest or peace anywhere. 

 This was strange experience for the little fel- 

 low, for heretofore none of the large birds had 

 ever disturbed him. He scolded furiously, but 

 he went'; no one could stand against that de- 

 termined approach. If the goldfinch wished to 

 bathe, his persecutor took his place on the near- 

 est perch, not a foot away, thus driving him to 

 the floor with the intention of using the big 

 birds' bath. He circled around the edge, but it 

 did not suit, and he returned to his own, looked 

 at his enemy, spattered a little, went back to 

 the big dish, returned again, and thus vibrated 

 between the two for several minutes, while the 

 mocking-bird stood motionless, not offering any 

 molestation, but plainly wishing to worry him. 

 The final act occurred when both chanced acci- 

 dentally to be in the same cage, not the home 



