120 JULY 



I hurriedly give him an instalment of his wages 

 this time. One cannot always be thinking of the 

 possibility of untruthfulness, though Penelope 

 seems to have double the misfortunes of the other 

 servants. 



" What a beautiful bird the peacock is ! " Unda 

 used to exclaim when she wished to change the 

 conversation. With that object I say, "What a 

 beautiful bird the kingfisher is ! " I saw one flying 

 across the pond, just skimming along close to the 

 water ; a lovely bright blue. They are shyer than 

 some of the denizens of this garden. The golden 

 oriole will let you come rather near, and I can 

 often catch a glimpse of his bright yellow plumage, 

 as he darts into the sun for a minute, from one tree 

 to another. The king crow is a handsome black 

 bird, with a crest on his head, and a long swallow- 

 tail. He is rather stand-offish, and I can never get 

 near enough to see him well, being short-sighted. 

 Owls innumerable there are. It is said to be 

 unlucky to shoot one. Unda did, but no bad luck 

 has yet arrived, and that is some three years ago. 

 There are also crowds of brilliant green parrots 

 flying about with harsh squawks, adding to the 



