136 love's meinie. 



same time making his way towards her ; she 

 also flew to meet him ; they then joined com- 

 pany for a moment or two, and, after a few 

 little notes of endearment, turned off again in 

 different directions. This scene was repeated 

 a dozen times while I was watching them. 

 They seemed to have not the slightest fear of 

 me, for frequently they came to within a yard 

 of where I was sitting, and after looking up 

 they continued catching the small water-insects, 

 etc., on the weeds, without minding my pres- 

 ence in the least." What reward the birds 

 got for this gentle behaviour, we learn from 

 the sentence following after the next two lines, 

 containing the extremely valuable contribution 

 to their natural history, that "on dissecting 

 the female we found two eggs in her." 



112. All other accounts concur in express- 

 ing (with as much admiration as is possible to 

 naturalists) the kindly and frank disposition 

 of this bird ; which for the rest is almost a 

 central type of all bird power with elf gifts 

 added : it flies like a lark, trips on water-lily 

 leaves like a fairy, swims like a duck, and 

 roves like a sea-gull, having been seen sixty 

 miles from land : and, finally, though living 



