112 PHILLIDA 4up CORIDON. 
make an eloquent description; but I should 
pity the man who could witness it with indiffer- 
ence. Not that the robin’s suit is always car- 
ried on in the same way; he is much too versa- 
tile for that. On one occasion, at least, I saw 
him holding himself absolutely motionless, in a 
horizontal posture, staring at his sweetheart as 
if he would charm her with his gaze, and emit- 
ting all the while a subdued hissing sound. The 
significance of this conduct I do not profess to 
have understood ; it ended with his suddenly 
darting at the female, who took wing and was 
pursued. Not improbably the robin finds the 
feminine nature somewhat fickle, and counts it 
expedient to vary his tactics accordingly ; for 
it is getting to be more and more believed that, 
in kind at least, the intelligence of the lower 
animals is not different from ours. 
I once came unexpectedly upon a wood 
thrush, who was in the midst of a perform-' 
ance very similar to this of the robin; standing ° 
on the dead branch of a tree, with his crown 
feathers erect, his bill set wide open, and his 
whole body looking as rigid as death. His 
mate, as I perceived the next moment, was 
not far away, on the same limb. If he was at- 
tempting fascination, he had gone very clumsily 
about it, I thought, unless his mate’s idea of 
beauty was totally different from mine; for I 
