8o BIRDS, BEASTS, AND FISHES 



butterflies so dear to them ; or else they are feeding a 

 voracious cuckoo, and following him over the marshes, pan- 

 dering to the great silent bird through August, until he 

 ungratefully goes across the seas when the guns begin to 

 boom across the stubble, leaving his foster-parents to fly 

 aimlessly to and fro looking for their lost child ; or mayhap 

 when the ever-new springtide returns, they give chase to the 

 first cuckoo, stung by affection, and thinking perhaps to find 

 their dear foster-child, for whom they so willingly sacrifice 

 their own flesh and blood. Strange, insignificant, mysterious 

 little birds ! what is the riddle, what the mysterious love 

 you bear the great selfish chortling cuckoo ? What the love 

 and enmity that by turn stirs your soft souls to deeds of war 

 or loving self-sacrifice ? 



