's particularly clever
feat, of which he is as proud as a gipsy is of doing the hokanybaro; and
what that is, I won't tell you.

And at last they brought out the prettiest, neatest young lady-crow that
ever was seen, and set her in the middle, and all began abusing and
vilifying, and rating, and bullyragging at her, because she had stolen
no grouse-eggs, and had actually dared to say that she would not steal
any. So she was to be tried publicly by their laws (for the hoodies
always try some offenders in their great yearly parliament). And there
she stood in the middle, in her black gown and grey hood, looking as
meek and as neat as a Quakeress, and they all bawled at her at once--

And it was in vain that she pleaded--

_That she did not like grouse-eggs;_

_That she could get her living very well without
them;_

_That she was afraid to eat them, for fear of the
gamekeepers;_

_That she had not the heart to eat them, because
the grouse were such pretty, kind, jolly birds;_

_And a dozen reasons more._

For all the other scaul-crows set upon her, and pecked her to death
there and then, before Tom could come to help her; and then flew away,
very proud of what they had done.

[Illustration: "The most beautiful bird of paradise."--_P. 210._]

Now, was not this a scandalous transaction?

But they are true republicans, these hoodies, who do every one just what
he likes, and make other people do so too; so that, for any freedom of
speech, thought, or action, which is allowed among them, they might as
well be American citizens of the new school.

But the fairies took the good crow, and gave her nine new sets of
feathers running, and turned her at last into the most beautiful bird of
paradise with a green velvet suit and a long tail, and sent her to eat
fruit in the Spice Islands, where cloves and nutmegs grow.

And Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid settled her account with the wicked hoodies.
For, as they flew away, what should they find but a nasty dead dog?--on
which they all set to work, pecking and gobbling and cawing and
quarrelling to their hearts' content. But the moment afterwards, they
all threw up their bills into the air, and gave one screech; and then
turned head over heels backward, and fell down dead, one hundred and
twenty-three of them at once. For why? The fairy had told the gamekeeper
in a dream, to fill the dead dog full of st