One Touch of Nature. 1 1 9 



atives of the pheasant family from all over the earth 

 that were running about among the rocks and artificial 

 copses. Some were almost as wild as if in their native 

 woods, especially the smaller birds in the trees ; others 

 had grown tame from being constantly fed by visitors. 



It was rather confusing to a bird lover, familiar only 

 with home birds, to see all the strange forms and 

 colors in the grass, and to hear a chorus of unknown 

 notes from trees and underbrush. But suddenly there 

 was a touch of naturalness. That beautiful brown 

 bird with the shapely bod)' and the cjuick, ner\-ous run ! 

 No one could mistake him; it was Bob White. And 

 with him came a flash of the dear New England 

 landscape three thousand miles awav. Another and 

 another showed himself and was gone. Then I thought 

 of the woods at sunset, and began to call softly. 



The carni^'ora were being fed not far away ; a fright- 

 ful uproar came from the cages. The coughing roar of 

 a male lion made the air shiver. Cockatoos screamed ; 

 noisy parrots squawked hideously. Children were 

 plaj'ing and shouting near by. In the yard itself fifty 

 birds were sino-in^ or crvincr stranw notes. Besides 

 all this, the quail I had seen had been hatched far 

 from home, under a strange mother. So I had little 

 hope of success. 



But as the call grew louder and louder, a liquid 

 yodel came like an electric shock from a clump of 



