80 Sporting Sketches 



arrangement they care anything about. Thrust a 

 hand far into a burrow and you may feel the wee, 

 snowy eggs softly bedded in goose feathers looted 

 from far and near. If the bird be at home, you may 

 feel her tiny mandibles nibbling feeble protest at 

 your fingertips. 



In a quiet nook of a higher bank, where over- 

 hanging sod and roots form a generous eave, is a 

 larger burrow, the home of the kingfisher. Never 

 mind about putting your hand in there. In all 

 probability the burrow is longer than your* arm; 

 and if not, A Icy on can bite, and she will not hesitate 

 over using her fishing-gear in an attempt to teach 

 you better manners. 



At one mile-long reach, where the river, for once, 

 manages to keep straight, the scene rises above ordi- 

 nary beauty. It presents a superb corridor, domed 

 with richest blue, walled with living green, and 

 floored with flawless crystal. The trees rise straight 

 from the water's edge, and only at midday can the 

 sun strike fairly upon the waveless flood. During 

 early and later hours the shadow of one mass of 

 trees stretches almost, if not quite, to the foot of 

 the opposite wall. This is a paradise for vines. 

 Creepers, clematis, ivy, and innumerable grape-vines 

 so bind together trunks and branches that, in a 

 breeze, the whole sways like a single growth. The 

 squirrels revel in such a magnificently appointed 

 gymnasium. Long tight-ropes, great swings, handy 

 loops, and rings are there for every furry athlete, and 

 they seldom are idle. Such balancing, daring runs, 

 bold swinging, and reckless leaping as go on there 

 cannot be surpassed outside a tropical forest where 



