Purple Martins and the Moon 



While I was thus engaged "Billy" 

 was out across the field, putting in an 

 idle hour with her latest toy, a kite. 

 A light southwesterly breeze was blow- 

 ing, and she had out some three hun- 

 dred yards of line. The kite was 

 tugging gracefully at its mooring. The 

 martins watched its movements, and 

 presently a few of them were wheeling 

 upward towards it; either curious to 

 know what sort of big new bird had 

 come to compete with them, or bent 

 upon proving their own superior flying 

 powers. At length, having either sat- 

 isfied themselves that the kite was a 

 harmless creature, or that they had 

 demonstrated sufficiently their own 

 prowess in comparison, they left 

 "Billy" and her kite to their own 

 devices, and reported back to head- 

 quarters. Meantime, the sun was dip>- 

 ping low behind the distant tree tops, 

 and the profile of the Madonna of the 

 Moon was becoming more and more 

 distinct, when suddenly a martin 



[91] 



