vi LETTERS TO MARCO 37 



beautiful ash-gray, white underneath, and 

 black caps on their heads. They flew up 

 and down the river, over a space of nearly 

 half a mile, going almost out of sight and 

 returning again continually. They were on 

 the sharp look-out for fish, hawking much 

 over the shallow flooded places. Every now 

 and again one would execute a sort of somer- 

 sault in the air, and shoot down with amazing 

 speed, striking the water with a dash and a 

 splash ; when they did this near me, I could 

 see that they often carried off a fish, though 

 not always, which they must have gorged on 

 the wing as they never stopped for a moment, 

 but dashed along with their companions. It 

 was a most delightful sight, and I longed for 

 you. I remember having once before seen 

 a solitary one of these birds, hawking up and 

 down over the same places ; it was in the 

 afternoon of a very rainy day with high wind, 

 but I forget the time of the year. 



My flowers are rejoicing in the rain, but I 

 have to keep a sharp look-out for snails and 



