78 BIRDS AND MAN 



arms — the loud, sharp summons of the blackbird 

 sounding first ; then the starhngs would chatter 

 angrily, the thrush scream, the chaffinches begin 

 to pink-pink with aU their might, and the others 

 would join in, even the «maU hideling wrens 

 coming out of their fortress of faggots to take 

 part in the demonstration. Then puss would 

 give it up and go away, or coil himself up and 

 go to sleep on the sloping roof of the tiny shed 

 or in some other sheltered spot ; peace and quiet 

 would once more settle on the Uttle republic, 

 and the birds would be content to dwell with 

 their enemy in their midst in full sight of them, 

 so long as he slept or did not watch them too 

 narrowly. 



Finding that blue tits were among the visitors 

 at the back, I hung up some lumps of suet and 

 a cocoa-nut to the twigs of the bushes. The suet 

 was immediately attacked, but judging from the 

 suspicious way in which .they regarded the round 

 brown object swinging in the wind, the Bath tits 

 had never before been treated to a cocoa-nut. 

 But though suspicious, it was plain that the 

 singular object greatly excited their curiosity. 

 On the second day they made the discovery that 



