98 BEAUTIFUL BIRDS 
round them.” (Just fancy!) ‘ It was an interesting 
sight.” (I should shizk so!) ‘First one and then 
another would advance a little nearer to a hen, and 
she, coquette-like” (you will have to ask your mother 
what shat means), “would retire a little, pretending 
not to care for any advances. A shot was fired, con- 
trary to our expressed wish, there was a strange 
commotion, and two of the cocks flew away” (you 
see what shooting does), ‘‘ but the others and the hens 
remained. Soon the two returned, and again the 
dance began, and continued long. As we had strictly 
forbidden any more shooting, all fear was gone; and 
so, after a rest, the males came a little nearer to the 
dark brown hens. Quarrelling ensued, and in the end 
all six birds flew away.” 
Fancy seeing all that! I think it is wonderful that 
any of the birds stayed after the shot had been fired, 
and if another one had been, no doubt they would 
all have gone. Those travellers, you see, were a little 
better than most travellers are. They did not kill 
the birds (perhaps shey were xot naturalists), and the 
consequence is they have had something interesting 
to tell us about them. Still, I think if I had been 
there I should have had a /i##/le more to say, and 
instead of just saying that the cock birds were danc- 
ing, I should have described How they were dancing, 
and what sort of attitudes they put themselves into. 
