— 484 — 



laughed at these words, stripped their victim and dis- 

 appeared. 



" The next day, the games began at Olympia : no 

 Ibycus appeared. The people murmured at the absence 

 of the bard ; his rivals commenced to sing. At that 

 moment a man arrived in hot haste bearing a broken 

 lyre, all bloody, and pronouncing the name of Ibycus. 

 It was the bard's lyre, found that morning close to the 

 corpse of the poet. A loud and deep wail was then 

 heard in the amphitheatre : the people deplored the 

 premature end of the young favourite of the muses ; 

 but the multitude is as easily moved to sorrow as it is 

 to forget, and the games proceeded, the memory of 

 Ibycus fading away. Night was closing in and would 

 soon interrupt the amusements of the crowd, when a 

 flock of cranes flew over the arena ; their loud notes 

 attracted general attention : two of the crowd, in a 

 conspicuous spot, repeated to one another, in a jocular 

 way, " There go the Cranes of Ibycus ! " This sin- 

 gular remark was overhead by others : the sarcastic 

 tone in which it was uttered, and the repulsive 

 appearance of the utterers : all conspired to create sus- 

 picion. The murderers were arrested, questioned sepa- 

 rately, confessed their crime, and were then and there 

 executed; so that the avenging mission confided by 

 the dying poet to the feathered strangers was faithfully 

 discharged." 



You are aware that the most numerous order of birds, 

 by far, is the Passeres. It would require a great many 

 evenings to initiate you into their habits and history. 

 I will consequently merely direct your attention to 

 those now before you wearing the gaudiest uniforms. 

 There, you will remark the brightest of Canadians birds, 

 the Scarlet Tanager; how gracefully his black wings 

 set on the surrounding red ! Hot weather alone attracts 

 him over the Canadian border from the scented Mag- 

 nolia groves of Louisiana and Florida. That sprightly- 

 looking individual with an olive-coloured back and 



