150 ON THE UPPER ST. JOHN'S. 



evidently thought me too sensible, or too old, 

 to mind a little billing and cooing. And 

 they were right in their opinion. What was 

 I in Florida for, if not for the study of nat- 

 ural history? And truly, I have seldom 

 seen, even among birds, a pair less sophisti- 

 cated, less cabined and confined by that dis- 

 astrous knowledge of good and evil which is 

 commonly understood to have resulted from 

 the eating of forbidden fruit, and which 

 among prudish people goes by the name of 

 modesty. It was refreshing. Charles 

 Lamb himself would have enjoyed it, and, I 

 should hope, would have added some quali- 

 fying footnotes to a certain unamiable essay 

 of his concerning the behavior of married 

 people. 



