52 EDGE OF THE JUNGLE 



than one sense, and which satisfied, as a cooling 

 drink or a rare, delicious fragrance satisfies. A 

 medium-sized, stocky bird flew with steady wing- 

 beats over the jungle, in black silhouette against 

 the sky, and swung up to an outstanding giant 

 tree which partly overhung the edge of my clear- 

 ing. The instant it passed the zone of green, it 

 flashed out brilliant turquoise, and in the same 

 instant I recognized it and reached for my gun. 

 Before I retrieved the bird, a second, dull and 

 dark-feathered, flew from the tree. I had 

 watched it for some time, but now, as it passed 

 over, I saw no yellow and knew it too was of real 

 scientific interest to me; and with the second bar- 

 rel I secured it. Picking up my first bird, I 

 found that it was not turquoise, but beryl; and a 

 few minutes later I was certain that it was aqua- 

 marine ; on my way home another glance showed 

 the color of forget-me-nots on its plumage, and 

 as I looked at it on my table, it was Nile green. 

 Yet the feathers were painted in flat color, with- 

 out especial sheen or iridescence, and when I 

 finally analyzed it, I found it to be a delicate cala- 

 mine blue. It actually had the appearance of a 

 too strong color, as when a glistening surface re- 

 flects the sun. From beak to tail it threw off 



