12 BIRDS AND MAN 



delusions and illusions, which Mr Sully has not 

 mentioned in his book on that fascinating subject. 

 One example of the particular delusion I have been 

 speaking of, in which it is seen in its crudest form, 

 may be given here. 



A man walking by the water- side sees by chance 

 a kingfisher fly past, its colour a wonderful blue, far 

 surpassing in beauty and brilliancy any blue he has 

 ever seen in sky or water, or in flower or stone, or 

 any other thing. No sooner has he seen than he 

 wishes to become the possessor of that rare loveli- 

 ness, that shining object which, he fondly imagines, 

 will be a continual delight to him and to all in his 

 house, an ornament comparable to that splendid 

 stone which the poor fisherman found in a fish's 

 belly, which was his children's plaything by day and 

 his candle by night. Forthwith he gets his gun and 

 shoots it, and has it stuffed and put in a glass case. 

 But it is no longer the same thing : the image of 

 the living sunlit bird flashing past him is in his mind 

 and creates a kind of illusion when he looks at his 

 feathered mummy, but the lustre is not visible to 

 others. 



It is because of the commonness of this delusion 

 that stuffed kingfishers, and other brilliant species, 

 are to be seen in the parlours of tens of thousands 



