20 THE WONDERS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



apparent design, to wash their eyes with the liquid. In the mean time, all their motions are strictly 

 watched by the demoiselles, and one or two, who are often more forward than the rest, sometimes 

 venture to approach very near to the spot where their future masters are pursuing their nefarious designs, 

 the result of which is generally the loss of liberty and the future happiness of the too confident and 

 unsuspecting demoiselles. Having secretly impregnated the water with a strong kind of glue, the 

 men retire, and in ambush await the accomplishment of their plans. In a very short time, the 

 demoiselles hasten to the spot where the vessels of water have been left, and proceed to wash their 

 eyes in the same manner as they had seen performed by their artful enemies. The result is obvious, 

 the gluey mixture prevents the bird from opening its eyes — the deception is discovered when it is too 

 late, and the unfortunate demoiselles are borne away in triumph. The worthy Grecian also informs us 

 that the demoiselle very much resembles the monkey in the imitative arts, of which he quotes the 

 washing of the eyes as an example ; but he proceeds further to state, that if any particular demoiselle 

 dresses her feathers in a particular style, a kind of fashionable rage takes place immediately throughout 

 the whole community, and every other demoiselle instantly evinces an unconquerable desire to have 

 her feathers dressed in the same manner. In this respect did the French nauralists discover any analogy 

 between the demoiselle of Paris, and the demoiselle of Numidia ? 



If we consult Pliny on the character of the demoiselle, we find that he declares it to be a most 

 accomplished parasite ; that the peacock exceeds it not in vanity, and that although it professes to 

 live in a state of connubial union, yet the most aggravated instances of infidelity are daily exhibited. 

 This trait in the character of the demoiselle of Pliny cannot possibly apply, in even a remote degree, 

 to either the demoiselles of Paris or of London, and therefore we repeat that the French are decidedly 

 wrong in giving the name of demoiselle to the Numidian crane. 



Keysler further informs us, that he has known a demoiselle which was taught to dance, and that 

 it was surprising the exactness with which it kept the time ; it was, however, guilty sometimes 

 of making some very false steps, which again shews the absurdity which the French have committed, 

 in giving the name of demoiselle, or young lady, to this bird. 



We have now only another authority to quote, and, in some respects, we prefer it to any which 

 has ever been established by the greatest naturalist which France or any other country ever produced, 

 and that is, the authority of an English sailor. He has not, indeed, entered so deeply into the minutiae 

 of the dancing art, nor is he so well versed in grimaces and gesticulations as our more polished neigh- 

 bours ; he sees neither elegance nor grace in the attitudes of the demoiselle, and therefore by him it is 

 always called the Buffoon Bird. He considers its antics as highly ridiculous and laughable, and 

 that all its attempts to excite admiration only render it contemptible. 



The bird, of which our portrait is a most faithful likeness, has now no one to please with its gestures 

 but some fan-tailed pigeons, which share its habitation in a rustic house in the grounds at Cobham-Hall, 

 and the labourers employed in the gardens, to one of whom the bird appears to shew a decided attach- 

 ment. When he is at work in the vicinity of the house, the demoiselle will be his companion, jumping 

 and dancing about him, and picking up any worms or insects which may shew themselves on the 

 surface of the ground. Its general food is wheat ; but when we consider that the natural haunt of the 

 demoiselle is in marshy places, and the neighbourhood of rivers, like most of the heron genus, it is 

 more probable that fish is its natural food ; and as there were originally a pair, male and female, it is 

 perhaps not an erroneous conjecture, that the death of one of them was occasioned by the food not being 

 suited to its general habits and constitution. 



