140 ON THE UPPER ST. JOHN’S. 
ple!” He drew the bird in, as proud as 
a prince. ‘“ There, sir!” he said; “didn’t 
I tell you it was handsome? It has every 
color there is.” And indeed it was hand- 
some, worthy to be called the “ Sultana; ” 
with the most exquisite iridescent bluish- 
purple plumage, the legs yellow, or greenish- 
yellow (a point by which it may be distin- 
guished from the Florida gallinule, as the 
bird flies from you), the bill red tipped with 
pale green, and the shield (on the forehead, 
like a continuation of the upper mandible) 
light blue, of a peculiar shade, “ just as if it 
had been painted.” From that moment the 
boy was a new creature. Again and again 
he spoke of his altered feelings. He could 
pull the boat now anywhere I wanted to go. 
He was perfectly fresh, he declared, al- 
though I thought he had already done a 
pretty good day’s work under that scorching 
sun. I had not imagined how deeply his 
heart was set upon showing me the bird 
I was after. It made me twice as glad to 
see it, dead though it was. 
Within an hour, on our way homeward, 
we came upon another. It sprang out of 
the lily pads, and sped toward the tall grass 
