IN |IDLE MOMENT 33 



infinitesimal drop descend into the eye the stoutest 

 mortal will blink. Attacks are made singly and in 

 detachments. Heroes actually hurl themselves from 

 the branches, and, failing to reach the enemy, run 

 along the ground and, scaling his legs, inflict punish- 

 ment on the first convenient patch of unprotected 

 skin. Detachments muster in blobs, fall in a mass to 

 the ground, and charge. If one of these forlorn hopes 

 happens to be successful, the observant man will retire 

 with little of his dignity remaining. 



It is interesting to note how readily birds acquire 

 tastes for the sweet fruits which man cultivates. One 

 of the honey-eaters, the diet of which ranges from 

 nectar to the juice of one of the native cucumbers, 

 as bitter as colocynth, has become an ardent advocate 

 for the thorough ripening of bananas. While on the 

 plant the fruit is not appreciated, but after the bunch 

 has been hung for a week or so and the first fruits are 

 changing colour the bird is enthusiastic. Formerly 

 bunches were ripened in a thatched building for the 

 the most part open, and the bird got the very best of 

 the bunch. Now the process takes place where the 

 bird has to venture through wire-netting. It has no 

 fear, entering without ceremony, loudly complaining 

 when inadvertently disturbed, and flying to other 

 parts of the house to express remonstrance when the 

 supply is exhausted. 



Scarcity of surface-water sharpens the powers of 

 observation of some birds and increases the trustfulness 

 of certain species towards human beings in a region 

 wherein they are held to have rights on equality with 

 those of their superiors in the animal world. For 

 years, during the few weeks which generally intervene 

 between the disappearance of accustomed water reserves 

 and the beginning of the wet season, with its super- 



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