A SCENE FROM "THE RIVALS" 281 



Moorhens are pugnacious birds, even in the 

 winter. At any time, one amongst several browsing 

 over the meadow-land, may make a sudden, bull- 

 like rush — its head down and held straight out — at 

 another, and this, often, from a considerable dis- 

 tance. The bird thus suddenly attacked generally 

 takes flight, and afterwards, as a solace to its feelings, 

 runs at some other one, and drives it about, in its 

 turn. This second bird will do the same by a third, 

 and thus, in wild nature, we have a curious repro- 

 duction — much to the credit of Sheridan — of that 

 scene in "The Rivals" where Sir Anthony bullies 

 his son, his son the servant, and the servant the 

 page. "It is still the sport" in natural history, 

 to see poor humanity aped. Such likenesses are 

 humiliating but humorous, and, by making us 

 less proud, may do good. But chases like this 

 are not in the grand style. There is nothing 

 stately about them, no " pride, pomp, and circum- 

 stance of glorious war" — little, perhaps, of its 

 true spirit. As the spring comes on it is differ- 

 ent. Then male birds that, at three yards apart, 

 have been quietly feeding, walk, if they come 

 a yard nearer, with wary, measured steps, in a 

 crouched attitude, holding their heads low, and 

 v/ith their tails swelled out. On the water these 

 mannerisms are still more marked, and then it is 

 that the bird's true beauty — for beauty it is, and of 

 no mean order — is displayed. Two will lie all 

 along, facing each other, with the neck stretched 

 out, and the head and bill, which are in one line 

 with it, pointing straight forward, like the ram of a 

 war-ship. Their tails, however, are turned straight 



