AND OTHER BIRDS 49 



over plumage of neck and back, and delicately 

 close. 



The heart thrills as approach becomes more 

 near, and twittering talk and reviving song tell 

 of confidence restored. An eclipse of light 

 darkens the conning hole ; the arriving bird has 

 passed athwart the sun. Leaf shadows dance 

 in the quiet of noon-day calm. It is where 

 for an instant the bird has perched and the 

 weighted twigs leap to readjust themselves. 

 Grasses bend, sere rushes rustle ; and in the wet 

 forest grey with stretching drops, a sudden 

 patter in one place alone, betrays. In calm 

 weather, fine, or with gently falling rain, the 

 faintest stir is filled with high imaginings. At 

 last the shy inhabitant of the wilds stands almost 

 within grasp, unconscious of espial, as Dryad 

 naked for the bath, perfect in pose as poet 

 has imagined nymph. 



