92 



"By my wisdom," said the owl, "if 

 this isn't Koko. I know him by his eye. 

 Well ! well ! what may not happen next ?" 



That night the wise owl repaired in all 

 haste to Urtzook in Tartary, where the 

 bird council was again in session, and 

 reported his wonderful find, whereat the 

 king of birds and all present were greatly 

 astonished for the fourth time. They 

 expressed a fear that Koko would some 

 day leave his watery element and return 

 to them. The king turned to the wise 

 one and said : 



"How know you that the creature 

 which you beheld in the limpid waters 

 of the Boozoo is the erstwhile Koko ? 

 and let me remind you, heed well your 

 answer." 



"Uh ! how do I know, indeed," replied 

 the owl, "by his eye, by his cold stare." 



"Our enemy, the Boa, also hath an eye 

 with a cold stare ; is he therefore also a 

 metamorphosed Koko? Again heed 

 well your answer," continued the king in 

 a somewhat sarcastic tone. 



The owl winked and blinked, adjusted 

 his spectacles and made answer. 



"The undeniable evidence that the 



creature referred to is the metamor 

 phosed Koko-bird is as follows : All the 

 wise birds of your kingdom, including 

 your humble servant, have searched far 

 and near and have found no Koko-bird. 

 We, ahem, I, have found this creature 

 with the cold stare ; therefore, it follows 

 that this staring, scaly, wingless and 

 featherless creature must be the meta 

 morphosed Koko-bird, for how could it 

 be otherwise?" 



All doubt vanished at such display of 

 wisdom and the king of birds at once 

 dispatched the Flipflap bird to the banks 

 of the Boozoo river, instructing him to 

 keep a sharp lookout on the now scaly 

 Koko and to drive him back into the 

 water should he attempt to leave it. Even 

 to. this day the guardian of fish may be 

 seen perched upon a stump, closely 

 watching the rippling waters. As soon 

 as one of the finny tribe approaches near 

 the surface he makes a dash for it, com 

 pelling it to return with all speed. For 

 his faithful services the Flipflap bird has 

 been dubbed Kingfisher, which is a much 

 nicer name. 



Albert Schneider. 



