BT WAY OF APPENDIX. 
217 
is nothing more than a slight discomfort, and is 
scarcely felt. By-and-by he is overcome by 
drowsiness, and ceases to struggle; the torturing 
visions fade from his mind, and his only thought 
is to lie down and sleep. And when he sleeps he 
passes away ; very easily, very painlessly, for the 
pain was of the mind, and was over long before 
death ensued. 
The bird, however hard the frost may be, flies 
briskly to its customary roosting-place, and, with 
beak tucked into its wing, falls asleep. It has no 
apprehensions; only the hot blood grows colder 
and colder, the pulse feebler as it sleeps, and 
at midnight, or in the early morning, it drops 
from its perch — dead. 
Yesterday he lived and moved, responsive to 
a thousand external influences, reflecting earth and 
sky in his small brilliant brain as in a looking- 
glass ; also he had a various language, the inherited 
knowledge of his race, and the faculty of flight, by 
means of which he could shoot, meteor-like, across 
the sky, and pass swiftly from place to place ; and 
with it such perfect control over all his organs, 
such marvellous certitude in all his motions, as to 
be able to drop himself plumb down from the tallest 
tree-top or out of the void air, on to a slender spray, 
and scarcely cause its leaves to tremble. Now, on 
this morning, he lies stiff and motionless ; if you 
