gedy, that would have
escaped any but sharp eyes. The snake, which was itself small, had the
fish by the throat, the hold of vantage among all creatures, and clung
to it with great tenacity. The snake knew that its best tactics was to
get upon dry land as soon as possible. It could not swallow its victim
alive, and it could not strangle it in the water. For a while it tried
to kill its game by holding it up out of the water, but the fish grew
heavy, and every few moments its struggles brought down the snake's
head. This would not do. Compressing the fish's throat would not shut
off its breath under such circumstances, so the wily serpent tried to
get ashore with it, and after several attempts succeeded in effecting a
landing on a flat rock. But the fish died hard. Cat-fish do not give up
the ghost in a hurry. Its throat was becoming congested, but the snake's
distended jaws must have ached. It was like a petrified gape. Then the
spectators became very curious and close in their scrutiny, and the
snake determined to withdraw from the public gaze and finish the
business in hand to its own notions. But, when gently but firmly
remonstrated with by my friend with his walking-stick, it dropped the
fish and retreated in high dudgeon beneath a stone in the bed of the
creek. The fish, with a swollen and angry throat, went its way also.

Birds, I say, have wonderfully keen eyes. Throw a fresh bone or a
piece of meat upon the snow in winter, and see how soon the crows will
discover it and be on hand. If it be near the house or barn, the crow
that first discovers it will alight near it, to make sure he is not
deceived; then he will go away, and soon return with a companion. The
two alight a few yards from the bone, and after some delay, during which
the vicinity is sharply scrutinized, one of the crows advances boldly to
within a few feet of the coveted prize. Here he pauses, and if no trick
is discovered, and the meat be indeed meat, he seizes it and makes off.

One midwinter I cleared away the snow under an apple-tree near the house
and scattered some corn there. I had not seen a blue-jay for weeks, yet
that very day one found my corn, and after that several came daily and
partook of it, holding the kernels under their feet upon the limbs of
the trees and pecking them vigorously.

Of course the woodpecker and his kind have sharp eyes; still I was
surprised to see how quickly Downy found out some bones that were placed
in a conv