THE SNAKE-BIRD. 
Ill 
eager to deprive her of her treasures. Her 
partner soars on high, with his outspread wings, 
and fan-like tail, glancing angrily at the 
cowardly robbers. The circles he makes in 
the air grow wider and wider; he rises higher 
and higher, till he becomes a mere speck, and 
is almost lost to sight. Then, closing his 
wings, he rushes downward like a meteor, and 
the next moment has alighted on the edge of 
the nest. 
In about three weeks time, the broken egg- 
shells float upon the green slime of the pool 
beneath the tree ; and the nest is filled with 
the tender young, clothed in soft down, and 
with open mouths, and extended pouches, ask- 
ing for food. 
The mother, now, must dive for fish; she 
swallows it, and brings it back into her 
pouch and feeds them with it. Every day 
the young snake-birds gets larger and stronger ; 
they amuse themselves by lodging their bills 
on the upper part of the nest, and by this 
means drawing themselves up. But very soon 
the nest gets too small for them ; and they 
stand upright, and flap their wings as if to try 
their strength. Then the parent birds alter 
