In playing "Hide and Seek," the seeker must first sit in a drooping attitude with covered eyes, while the others stand about and threaten to strike him if he peeps:—
"Oil-cruet! Don't do it! Ras con ras!
Pepper-pot? Peep not! Ras con ras!"
The menacing little fists are then suddenly withdrawn.
"No, no! Not a blow!
But a pinch on the arm will do no harm.
Now let the birdies take alarm!"
And off scamper the hiders to their chosen nooks. When they are safely tucked away, the indispensable Mother, standing by, sings to the seeker that stanza which is his signal for the start:—
"My little birds of the mountain
Forth from the cage are flown.