BIRDS IN A VILLAGE 5 



and after giving moderately of her store to the wood- 

 pigeons and sparrows, she went on to the others, 

 native and exotic, that were disporting themselves 

 in the water, or sunning themselves on the green 

 bank. She did not cast her bread on the water in 

 the manner usual with visitors, but was anxious to 

 feed all the different species, or as many as she 

 could attract to her, and appeared satisfied when any 

 one individual of a particular kind got a fragment of 

 her bread. Meanwhile she talked eagerly to the 

 little ones, calling their attention to the different 

 birds. Drawing near I also became an interested 

 listener ; and then, in answer to my questions, she 

 began telling me what all these strange fowls were. 

 " This," she said, glad to give information, " is the 

 Canadian goose, and there is the Egyptian goose ; 

 and here is the king-duck coming towards us ; and 

 do you see that large beautiful bird standing by 

 itself, that will not come to be fed t that is the 

 golden duck* But that is not its real name ; I don't 

 know them all, and so I name some for myself. 

 I call that one the golden duck because in the sun 

 its feathers sometimes shine like gold." It was a 

 rare pleasure to listen to her, and, seeing what sort 

 of a girl she was, and how much in love with her 

 subject, I in my turn told her a great deal about the 

 birds before us, also of other birds she had never 

 seen nor heard of in other and distant lands that have 



