XXXVIII 

 UGLY DUCKLINGS 



SOME people invariably look untidy. They seem 

 to be nature's misfits. All the skill of the 

 tailor, all the art of the miUiner, can make them 

 nothing else. No matter how well-cut their 

 garments be, these always hang about them in a 

 ridiculous, uncouth manner. If the individual be a 

 man, the upper part of his collar seems to exercise an 

 irresistible attraction for his tie ; if a woman, she 

 presents an unfinished appearance about the waist, 

 as often as not displaying an ugly hiatus in that region. 

 Similar creatures are to be found among the beasts of 

 the field and the birds of the air. There exist not a 

 few feathered things whose plumage usually looks 

 as though a thorough spring-cleaning, followed by a 

 " wash and brush-up," would do it a world of good. 

 Chief among these are our well-known friends the 

 babbler thrushes, alias the seven sisters, or seven 

 brothers, as some will have it. 



Like most human beings who are careless of their 

 personal appearance, these birds possess many good 

 qualities. First and foremost of these is the love which 

 they show one to another. They are brotherly affection 



214 



