1899] Tyndall — My Feathered Jester, 189 



for many acts which to say the least are inadvisable, as when, for 

 instance, his taunting- yells and peals of loud laughter on the occa- 

 sion of a passing funeral cortege, bring upon his friends and bene- 

 factors the opprobium of ill-timed mirth, since it is only by the 

 very few that the voice can be recognised as belonging to "that 

 crow," it must be said that none of the misdoings which bring him 

 into disfavor with those aiound him suggest the weak character 

 unfitted to resist temptation, but rather the strong, though erring 

 spirit, governed by the conviction that whatever presents itself as 

 being the most desirable, is the one thing possible to do. 



He has lately fallen into the prevailing error of the age, and 

 is apparently hrmly persuaded that he, the individual, has a 

 mission in life, and is called upon to institute reform in such 

 habits among his fellow-creatures as his judgment pronounces as 

 productive of no beneficial results. 



The form this idea takes at present is seen in his determined 

 efforts to fix in every cne who comes within the sphere ot his in- 

 fluence the habit of early rising. This self-imposed task is a heavy 

 one as he is well aware, but he does not shrink from it, and his 

 earnest entreaties, made at an hour when the air is as dark as 

 night can make it, meeting with no response, in growing indigna- 

 tion, with the appearance of the sun his tones change to those of 

 stern command, and these alike failing to produce the desired 

 results, he, as a last resource, seeks an open window to try upon 

 the sluggard the effects of a strong^, sharp beak. 



However, the errors which call forth the most severe censure 

 from those responsible in some degree for his actions belong to 

 his pastimes. He has a most reprehensible habit of concealing 

 himself in a tree by the roadside, and from there greeting the 

 passer-by with fearful yells and such exclamations as " Ow wow, 

 ow wow " — sounds suggestive of nothing so much as the interest- 

 ing sufferer in the dentist's chair; while the peals of loud laughter, 

 seemingly having for their cause the personal appearance of the 

 objects of his attention — not seldom both alarms and offends. 

 His persistent indulgence in these objectionable forms of amuse- 

 ment frequently results in a coolness between himself and his 

 chosen friends, although it is only fair to say that in these leisure 

 moments he devotes to experimenting on the variety of sounds his 



