174 ANIMAL SKETCHES. CHAP. 



many young animals prettier than a little ostrich chick 

 during the first few weeks of life. It has such a sweet, 

 innocent baby-face, such large eyes, and such a plump, 

 round little body. All its movements are comical, and 

 there is an air of conceit and independence about the tiny 

 creature which is most amusing. Instead of feathers, it 

 has a little rough coat which seems all made up of narrow 

 strips of material of as many shades of brown and grey as 

 there are in a. tailor's pattern-book, mixed with shreds of 

 black ; while the head and neck are apparently covered 

 with the softest plush, striped anft coloured just like a 

 tiger's skin on a small scale. On the whole, the little 

 fellow, on his first appearance in the world, is not unlike 

 a hedgehog on two legs with a long neck. 



" One would like these delightful little creatures to re- 

 main babies much longer than they do ; but they grow 

 quickly, and with their growth they soon lose all their 

 prettiness and roundness ; their bodies become angular and 

 ill-proportioned, a crop of coarse, wiry feathers sprouts 

 from the parti-coloured strips which formed their baby- 

 clothes, and they enter on an ugly ' hobbledehoy * stage, in 

 which they remain for two or three years." 



Yes ! what a pity it is that some animals ever grow up. 

 A kitten, for example ; or perhaps still more decidedly a 

 pigling. A pigling is the dearest little fellow. One could 

 nurse him, play with him, toy with his soft silken ears, 

 assist him to curl his captivating tail. But who would 

 care to be on terms of similar intimacy with his excellent 

 mamma? This is not a universal rule. Not all young 

 creatures are thus engaging in their infancy. A fledgeling 

 rook is about as ugly a little monster as one could wish 

 not to see. To which class do we humans belong ? Are 

 we rooks or ostriches ? Into the question of the beauty 

 of babies, however, 1 will not 'enter. I am on debatable 



