68 THE CITY OF THE BIRDS. 



dragged herself out of sight, as she thinks, to 

 observe how quickly she drops the part she has 

 been playing. She flys on the trees and scampers, 

 sprightly enough, along the branches and up and 

 down the trunks, manifesting her solicitude in the 

 natural way, after her character performance has 

 failed in its purpose. When and how did these 

 mother birds learn to impersonate so perfectly.' 

 They seem to understand clearly that people 

 think they are pretty and wish to get nearer to 

 them, or hold them in their hands, and so, from 

 some unaccountable source, they have conceived 

 the idea of adopting this artifice to tempt one to 

 follow them, whenever their nests are in danger 

 of being discovered. 



Considering how wise they are in this respect, 

 one would suppose they could not be played upon 

 so easily by the cunning cow-bird. 



It was my intention to be present when the 

 young scapegrace should leave the nest, and to 

 ascertain, if possible, whether the foster mother 

 still continued to feed it; but its development had 

 been so rapid that it escaped, probably a short 

 time previous to my return to the spot, the next 

 day. Although the little impostor could not be 

 found, I am quite confident that the creeper knew 

 where it was and had an occasional eye and worm 

 for it, for she was seen flitting here and there 

 above the trees in the neighborhood, but with the 



