224 EDGE OF THE JUNGLE 



of them could have rested upon the pair of 

 strands; even the dragon-flies which dashed past 

 had a wider spread of wing; but for these two 

 there were a myriad glistening featherlets to be 

 oiled and arranged, two pairs of slender wings 

 to be whipped clean of every speck of dust, two 

 delicate, sharp bills to be wiped again and again 

 and cleared of microscopic drops of nectar. 

 Then — like the great eagles roosting high over- 

 head in the clefts of the mountainside — these 

 mites of birds must needs tuck their heads be- 

 neath their wings for sleep ; thus we three rested 

 in the violent heat. 



On other days, in Borneo, weaver birds have 

 brought dried grasses and woven them into the 

 fabric of my hammock, making me indeed feel 

 that my couch was a part of the wilderness. At 

 times, some of the larger birds have crept close 

 to my glade, to sleep in the shadows of the low 

 jungle-growth. But these were, one and all^ 

 timid folk, politely incurious, with evident re- 

 spect for the rights of the individual. But once, 

 some others of a ruder and more barbaric tem- 

 perament advanced upon me unawares, and 

 found me unprepared for their coming. I was 

 dozing quietly, glad to escape for an instant the 



