128 LETTERS TO MARCO xix 



curse my stars when the children bring me 

 one of these helpless waifs and strays, know- 

 ing from repeated experiences the futility of 

 attempting to hand-rear them. 



The painful alarm cry " chig, chig, chigg," 

 rapidly repeated every now and then, an- 

 nounces the fact that a prize has been secured 

 by the cat ; feathers, bits of wings, etc., found 

 lying about tell the same tale. 



About a fortnight ago I saw four terns 

 hawking over the river for fish. It was in 

 the afternoon during windy, sunny weather, 

 and this time I paid particular attention to 

 their tails, which undoubtedly were distinctly 

 forked. 



\_Fragment ends.~\ 



yh October 1888. 



Forked tails remind me that the swallow's 

 tail is frequently drawn wrongly by artists. 

 The fact that swallows have forked tails is 

 almost always too much insisted on ; whether 

 the bird is meant to be flying at full speed 



