overspread the fair face of the land. 

 Barren fields became rich, rich lands be- 

 came prodigal. Cotton spread up every- 

 where. Maize grew to such dimensions 

 that a man could carry only one ear at a 

 time. Fruit filled the land with its fra- 

 grance ; flowers filled the air with de- 

 lightful perfume and singing-birds of 

 most amazing and bewitching beauty 

 flew in freedom through the world. So 

 sweetly did they sing that they entranced 

 men's souls and warriors ceased to 

 think of war and bent the knee 

 to listen while enemies forgave each 

 other and hatred was as if it had not 

 been. Rejoicing came and love gave 

 strength to men and loveliness to wo- 

 men while naught was heard throughout 

 the land but the music of the stars ana 

 the singing of the birds. But one ex- 

 celled in beauty and glory. Scarlet was 

 its breast, green its soft body while its 

 tiny helmet-crested head shone with a 

 golden brilliancy of light and color 

 equaled only in intensity by the hues 

 springing into life from its brightly- 

 feathered tail. Wherever this bird came 

 men felt and realized that the God Que- 

 zalcoatl was nigh — in fact, some even 

 swore that the bird and Quezalcoatl 

 were one, only changed in shape through 

 the mirage of their eyes and the en- 

 trancement of their ears. Be that as it 

 may the people learned to know the shin- 

 ing bird as the bird of their sun god and 

 they called it Quezal. It was the Golden 

 Age of Beauty and of Fruitfulness ; but 

 at last there came a day of Death when 



Tezcatlipoca, the Mystic God of Dark- 

 ness, mastered Quezalcoatl by drugging 

 him with a poison that aged and weaken- 

 ed him and filled his heart with longing 

 to return to Tlapallan. So he went down 

 to the shore of the sea and stepped into- 

 his mighty shell canoe and went out in- 

 to the sea never to return. Then the 

 maize grew small and the cotton died 

 and the hearts of men awoke again to 

 war. The birds no longer sang in the 

 gloaming of early dawn, famine and pes- 

 tilence visited the land while crime and 

 poverty banqueted in royal style upon 

 human misery and wretchedness. 



In the bloody battles of the day Que- 

 zalcoatl's temples were thrown down and 

 destroyed and his priests fled from place 

 to place, having no where to lay their 

 heads and being hunted like criminals by 

 their merciless pursuers. At last only a 

 few of the faithful remained to worship 

 the once powerful Quezalcoatl and these 

 performed the rites and ceremonies in 

 the deepest of the deep forests in the 

 mysterious mountains. 



Then Death came and took these faith- 

 ful ones, too, and now palms and creep- 

 ers cover the ruins of the last of the 

 altars. Yet through all the ages of time 

 since then one creature has remained un- 

 changed and beautiful and free. It is 

 the quezal. And it may be seen in the 

 tall and dreamy forests that clothe the 

 backbone of Central America, flitting 

 from tree to tree in all its ancient glory 

 and splendor. 



John A. Morris. 



AN EFFECTIVE PROTECTION. 



An interesting fact, vouched for by 

 the natives and confirmed by competent 

 European observers, is that the Baya, or 

 "Bottle Bird," of India, after weaving its 

 nest with wonderful ingenuity and art, 

 affixes about the entrance to its odd- 

 shaped home numerous tiny clay balls. 



These clay balls serve as so many can- 

 dlesticks for some extremely odd candles, 

 the candles in question being nothing else 

 than fire beetles, which, in that part of 

 the world, glow with a brilliancy un- 



known to the natives of colder regions. 



The birds catch the beetles and stick 

 them, while alive, of course, into the clay 

 balls, where they remain and furnish 

 quite an illumination. 



If the object of the captor in thus utiliz- 

 ing his prisoners is to protect himself 

 from his numerous enemies, he is thor- 

 oughly successful. 



Snakes and all others who prey upon 

 him are frightened away by the lights 

 with which he guards his home. 



Louise Jamison. 



32 



