EYES AND NO EYES. 9 



them, for he flew as though one of his wings was 

 broken, and often tumbled close to the ground. But 

 as I came near, he always made a shift to get away." 



"Ha, ha!" interrupted Mr. Andrews, laughing, 

 "you were finely taken in, then. This was an arti- 

 fice of the bird's to entice you away from its nest ; for 

 they build upon the bare ground, and their nests 

 would be easily observed did they not draw off the 

 attention of those who disturb them by their loud 

 cries and pretended lameness." 



"I wish I had known that," said William, "for the 

 bird led me a long chase, often over shoes in water. 

 However, it was the cause of my falling in with an 

 old man and a boy who were cutting and piling turf 

 for fuel ; and I had a good talk with them about the 

 manner of preparing the turf, and the price it sells at. 

 I then took my course up to the windmill on the 

 mount. What a wide prospect ! I counted fifteen 

 church steeples. From the hill I went straight down 

 to the meadows below, and walked on the side of a 

 brook that runs into the river. There were a great 

 many dragon-flies all about the stream. I caught one 

 of the finest, and have 'got him in a leaf. But how I 

 longed to catch a bird that I saw hovering over the 

 water, and that, every now and then, darted down into 

 it ! It was all over a mixture of the most beautiful 

 green and blue, with some orange color." 



"I can tell you what that bird was," said Mr. An- 

 drews. "It was a kingfisher, the celebrated halcyon 

 of the ancients, about which so many tales are told." 



"There were a great many swallows, too, sporting 

 upon the surface of the water," continued William. 



