THE PASSING OF THE BIRDS. 187 
my notebook of the previous year, | came 
upon my entry of May 18th, and thought 
IT would be on the lookout for a black-cap 
on that date. Several times during the 
morning I thought of the matter, and af- 
ter my lunch I sauntered into the rockery 
just as I had done the year before. Imag- 
ine my start when there, in the very same 
bush, was the black-cap peering at me; and 
I found on looking at my watch that it was 
precisely the same hour, —half past one! 
I rubbed my eyes and pinched myself to 
make sure it was nota dream. No, it was 
all real. Of course, I thought the coinci- , 
dence very singular, and talked about it, 
not only with my family, but also with other 
people. You must remember that I had 
never seen the bird elsewhere. 
‘Well, another spring came round. The 
18th of May was fixed in my mind, and I 
thought many times of my black-cap CL 
called it my black-cap now), and wondered 
if it would keep tryst again. On the morn- 
ing of the 18th, the first thing I thought of 
when I awoke was my black-cap. That fore- 
noon I actually felt nervous as the time ap- 
proached, for I felt a sort of certainty (you 
