ir voices and lamented the
emptiness of the cold, cold world.

Perhaps the most comical performance of this clumsy baby was his way of
alighting on a fence when he had been flying. He seized the board with
his claws, which clung for dear life, while his body went on as it was
going, with the result almost of a somersault. He tried to learn,
however. He made great efforts to master the vagaries of fences, the
irregularities of the ground, the peculiarities of branches. He
persistently walked the rail fence, though he had to spread both wings
to keep his balance. Then he climbed to the top of the rail which stood
up at the corners, and maintained his position with great effort, but
never gave up the attempt.

These interesting young folks dote on fences, after they get used to
them, and not having learned to recognize them as devices of the enemy,
capable of concealing a trap of some sort, they will come quite near a
house when they see no one about. So I, behind my blind, had excellent
chance to watch their ways. For I try to keep my window view good by
contenting myself with what I can see from it, and never going out to
give the birds a notion that they must look out for visitors.

One day when the grass had been cut from the meadow before the house,
and I had encamped under the shade of a big maple to see how the
kingbirds were coming on in nesting, I noticed a young crow walking in
the hot stubble, trying to find something to eat. He wandered about
looking in vain to see something attractive. A robin who was also
engaged in a food-hunt came and "took his measure," looking sharply at
him as if to decide whether it was his duty to go for him. He plainly
recognized the youthfulness of the intruder, for after a moment's study
he passed on, attending to his own business, while the young crow stared
at him in open-mouthed curiosity. At last the crow baby picked up an
object--I could not tell what--which hung from his beak while he
balanced the probabilities of its being good, aiding his deliberations
by a gentle lift of the wings which looked like a shrug of the
shoulders. He decided to risk it, and swallowed, but instantly choked it
up, and for some time shook his head as if to get rid of even the memory
of it. When, a few minutes after this disastrous experience, he heard
another baby utter the cries that indicate being fed, it seemed to
suggest to him an easier way of getting satisfaction out of life. He
spread his w