BIRDS IN A VILLAGE 3 



of me; two were quite small, but the third, in 

 whose charge the others were, was a robust-look- 

 ing girl, aged about ten or eleven years. From 

 their dress and appearance I took them to be the 

 children of a respectable artisan or small trades- 

 man; but what chiefly attracted my attention was 

 the very great pleasure the elder girl appeared to 

 take in the birds. She had come well provided 

 with stale bread to feed them, and after giving 

 moderately of her store to the wood-pigeons and 

 sparrows, she went on to the others, native and 

 exotic, that were disporting themselves in the 

 water, or sunning themselves on the green bank. 

 She did not cast her bread on the water in the 

 manner usual with visitors, but was anxious to 

 feed all the different species, or as many as she 

 could attract to her, and appeared satisfied when 

 any one individual of a particular kind got a 

 fragment of her bread. Meanwhile she talked 

 eagerly to the little ones, calling their attention 

 to the different birds. Drawing near, I also be- 

 came an interested listener; and then, in answer 

 to my questions, she began telling me what all 

 these strange fowls were. "This," she said, glad 

 to give information, ^'is the Canadian goose, and 



