IN IDLE MOMENT 19 



like whirring. The sun-bird exempHfies the brightness 

 of the day. All its activities are bold and conspicuous. 

 Aptly named, it has nothing to hide, no deeds which 

 will not withstand the scrutiny of the vividest ra^'-s. 



To work out its destiny the night-jar depends on 

 secret doings and on flight soft as a falling leaf. It 

 is a bird of the twilight and night. Startled from 

 brooding over its eggs or yet dependent chicks, it is 

 ghost-like in its flittings and disappearances. In broad 

 daylight it moves from its resting-place as a leaf blown 

 by an erratic and sudden puff, and vanishes as it touches 

 the sheltering bosom of Mother Earth. Mark the 

 spot of its vanishment and approach never so cau- 

 tiously, and 3^ou see naught. Peer about and from 

 your very feet that which had been deemed to be a 

 shred of bark rises and is wafted away again by a 

 phantom zeph}^. 



The chick which the parent bird has hidden remains 

 a puzzle. It moves not, it may not blink. Its crafty 

 parent has so nibbled and frayed the edges of the 

 decaying brown leaves among which it nestles that 

 it has become absorbed in the scene. There is 

 nothing to distinguish between the leaf-like feathers 

 and the feather -like leaves. The instinct of the 

 bird has blotted itself out. It is there, but invisible, 

 and to be discovered only by the critical inspec- 

 tion of every inch of its environment. You have 

 found it; but not for minutes after its instinct has 

 warned it to possess its soul calmly and not to be 

 afraid. So firm is its purpose that if inadvertently 

 you put your foot on its tender body it would not move 

 or utter cry. All its faculties are concentrated on 

 impassiveness, and thus does Nature guard its weakest 

 and most helpless offspring. 



While you ponder on the wonderful faith of the 



