same time she uttered a curious hissing , 

 sound that frightened me again and made 

 me think of snakes and hidden stings; so 

 I drew back and watched her from a safe 

 distance. She sat for the most part per- 

 fectly motionless, the only movement being 

 an occasional turning of the long bill ; and 

 once when she had been still a very long 

 time, I turned her head aside again, and to 

 my astonishment and delight she made no 

 objection, but left her head as I had turned 

 it, and presently she let me twist it back 

 again. After her first warning she seemed 

 to understand the situation perfectly, and 

 had no concern for the wondering child that 

 watched her and that had no intention what- 

 ever of harming her or her nest. ^JJ^y^ 



Others had laughed at my 

 description of a brown bird with 

 a long bill and eyes at the back 

 of her head that let you touch her on her 

 nest, so I said no more to them ; but at the 

 first opportunity I hunted up Natty Dingle 

 and told him all about it. Natty was a 

 gentle, harmless, improvident little man, who 



