HOW I KILLED THE TIGER. 73 



Peacocks, eagles, falcons, vultures, kites, cranes, 

 wild geese, wild fowl, snipe, bustard, parrots, 

 and parroquets, etc., abound in India at certain 

 seasons. In England on the return of Spring : 



Every copse 



Deep tangled, tree irregular, and bush, 

 Bending with dewy moisture o'er the heads 

 Of the coy quiristers that lodge within, 

 Are prodigal of Harmony. 



But in the tropics generally, there are few 

 Europeans who will dare to face the sun's rays 

 for the sake of enjoying the beauties of Nature. 

 As a rule the natives of Eastern and Southern 

 Asia do not pay any attention to natural phe- 

 nomena, and comparatively little is known of 

 the song of birds. 



Few can say with the rustic poet Clare : 



I've often tried when tending sheep or cow, 



With bits of grass and peels of oaten straw 



To whistle like the birds. The thrush would start 



To hear her song of praise and fly away ; 



The blackbird never cared, but sang again ; 



The nightingale's pure song I would not try, 



And when the thrush would mock her song, she paused 



And sang another song no bird could do. 



She sang when all were done, and beat them all. 



I was one of those Europeans who often dared 

 the sun from day-light to dark, and I have 

 frequently been for many consecutive days in 



