234 THE OPEN AIR 



frequently. It needs no teaching to see its beauty 

 — the feeling comes of itself. 



How different with the turkey-cock which struts 

 round the same barn ! A fine big bird he is, no 

 doubt; but there is no intrinsic beauty about him; 

 on the contrary, there is something fantastic in his 

 style and plumage. He has a way of drooping his 

 wings as if they were armour-plates to shield him 

 from a shot. The ornaments upon his head and 

 beak are in the most awkward position. He was 

 put together in a dream, of uneven and odd pieces 

 that live and move, but do not fit. Ponderously 

 gawky, he steps as if the world was his, like a 

 *' motley " crowned in sport. He is good eating, 

 but he is not beautiful. After the eye has been 

 accustomed to him for some time — after you have 

 fed him every day and come to take an interest in 

 him — after you have seen a hundred turkey-cocks, 

 then he may become passable, or, if you have the 

 fancier's taste, exquisite. Education is requisite first ; 

 you do not fall in love at first sight. The same 

 applies to fancy-pigeons, and indeed many pet 

 animals, as pugs, which come in time to be ani- 

 mated with a soul in some people's eyes. Compare 

 a pug with a greyhound straining at the leash. 

 Instantly he is slipped, he is gone as a wave let 

 loose. His flexible back bends and undulates, arches 

 and unarches, rises and falls as a wave rises and 

 rolls on. His pliant ribs open; his whole frame 

 " gives " and stretches, and closing again in a curve, 

 springs forward. Movement is as easy to him as 

 to the wave, which melting, is re-moulded, and sways 



