A Bird in the...

Read the familiar phrase on the left. Read it several times to make sure you have it right.

How many times does the word "the" appear in the sentence? Look carefully. Most people do not notice that the word appears more than once. We probably do see the extra word, but our mind's are so good at reading that we automatically edit out the extra word without ever noticing it.

You can make this same puzzle yourself with a familiar phrase such as "I Love Paris in the the Springtime" or "A bat in the the belfry." Put the sentence in a triangle shape paragraph so that the extra word ends up on a different line. You can have a lot of fun with this simple illusion.

Art: ©2002 R. Ausbourne