158 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



water's edge was an easy journey; to 

 throw off the line and ply the oars, 

 equally easy. Even from a distance the 

 island proclaimed itself an island of 

 birds. The ivy mantled tower w ith a 



"THE IVY MANTLED TOWER WITH A 

 BRONZE BIRD POISED ON THE 

 SUMMIT TOLD THE STORY." 



bronze bird poised on the summit toki 

 the story. Like the totem poles of 

 Alaska that say, "This is the Bear Fam- 

 ily," "This the Wolf Family," this totem 

 tower said, "This belongs to the Bird 



lush herbage, 



pcrcr 



Family." The purpose was respected. 

 The entire island was not only "sacred" 

 to the birds, but it offered a •pungent 

 warning against wandering footsteps 

 that, amid vines and 

 might come in contact with an 

 ready to explode and to fill the air with 

 odors quite unlike those of "Arabv the 

 blest." The visitor needed no sign, "Be 

 careful. Birds' eggs are plentiful." 



The conditions reminded me of the 

 story of an Englishman who was show- 

 ing a guest about his garden. The 

 guest walked into a tank whose surface 

 was concealed by a growth of aquatic 

 plants. As he came up spluttering and 

 making frantic efforts to free himself 

 from the clinging vines and leaves, his 

 mortified host was shouting, "Oh, I 

 meant to have told you about that. Oh, 

 why was I so careless?" 



" X-n-v-r mind — whuff — and — fhss — 

 saved — wh-on ghhh — you the trouble. 

 I found it." 



Nobody needed to tell me where were 

 the nests of ducks and geese and swans. 

 I found them ; that is, mostly — occasion- 

 ally one found me! But I never felt 

 that I had done actual damage. The 

 goods were too damaged and too shop 

 worn to be saleable. 



But the nests, the real up to date nests, 

 with not the stray egg that didn't hatch ! 

 What beauties they were! To discover 

 one had all the charm of the discovery 

 of a wild bird's nest. But for that mat- 

 ter, these birds were wild enough, es- 

 pecially in the presence of a stranger 

 carrying a mysterious camera. Those 

 most suspicious of the intruder were the 

 really wild birds that nested in great 

 numbers in the ivy. These kept up a 

 constant nervous fluttering to and fro 

 as I approached the tower and their 

 cries plainly said, "Go away." 



On repeated visits the birds came to 

 know me better, especially so when I 

 accompanied the man who fed them. 

 He noured the cracked corn into the 

 water! The long necks should still be 

 of use as in native haunts. Fie whistled 

 and from far away came the birds — 

 short necked, long necked, white, black, 

 Sfrev, little, bier, medium, all sorts of 

 birds. The feeding beach was the 

 'common water" on which all kinds and 



