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on tis toes of his big, black feet; and ious he shouted | 
in surprise, as he saw a woman writing at another table not 
three feet from where he stood. He waited not on orders 
for his going, but fled to the big tree, where hidden, as he 
‘supposed, among the branches, he looked over and studied 
the situation. 
As no movement was aoe in . the ouke. tempted by 
the food, and urged by the emptiness of his inner self, he © E 
again landed noisily, grabbed one crumb and scrambled to : 
shelter. That taste was too much for his sense of caution. _ 
Once more he sprang into view, but this time he did not stop 
to swallow, but picked up one piece of food after another 
until his bill was running over, when he retired once more _ 
to the safe quarters of a tree farther away in the grove. 
It was several minutes before he returned, but, when he 
did, he brought a companion with him that waited, hiding _ 
in the tree, until the watcher moved out of sight. This — 
bird’s shy ways, generally well-groomed feathers, and slight- 
ly smaller size made the lady, almost holding her breath 
back in a shadowy corner, believe that it was the female, 
although the colors of the two birds were the same, except — . 
that the bars on wings and tail of the first comer were more | 
distinct. The bolder visitor flew from tree to table several 
_ times before the other could be coaxed to satisfy her : 
appetite, and his evident desire to share the goods the gods © 
had provided. Within the hour, however, both would come 
while the inside table was being used, and they were so 
near that the gray chins and the narrow sky-blue stripes 
on n the front crest between the eyes were easily seen. 
- When nearly every scrap of food had disappeared, one 
visitor discovered that the box had an inside lower surface _ 
which was also well covered with bird dainties. He bent _ 
over, stretching his neck as if it were rubber and, when he 
found he must, dropped to the lower level, where he poised 
-a second before he ventured into what might be a trap. © 
Presently his mate landed on the upper side of the box with 
= a 112 — 
