EVENING IN THE FOREST. 



tance, bounding from bough to bough ; the pecu- 

 liarly soft and melancholy note of the turtle-doves, 

 as they flutter in pairs from tree to tree ; or the 

 shrill screams of flights of paroquets, whose bril- 

 liant plumage shines with exquisite lustre in the 

 light of the sun, as they dash close past, uncon- 

 scious of danger in their forest home. 



Evening in As the ^ declines, birds of all 



the Forest. -, j i j 



kinds are seen returning homeward 



from their distant feeding-grounds ; pelicans rise 

 heavily on their unwieldy wings from the 

 marshes, and wend their way to their nests on 

 the highest trees in some secluded spot. Flying- 

 foxes leave the shady grove where they have hung 

 suspended during the heat of the day, and are 

 seen in numbers darkening the sky as they roam 

 through the twilight ; whilst multitudes of bats 

 flit about in all directions in search of the insects 

 on which they feed. 



As the sun sets, insects of all kinds issue from 

 their retreats, and mosquitoes are constantly heard 

 buzzing about, increasing in the audacity of their 



