64 
A NATURAL/ST ON THE FROWL. 
could give points to any Kentucky man, and the 
result was a sun-dried lump very like the little brown 
fungus which grows on old trees in the rainy season. 
It is not the size of a rupee, and from below is 
scarcely visible — certainly not distinguishable from any 
of the numerous warts and lumps which disfigure 
the old tree ; but it holds one egg safely and is firm 
enough to support the handsome bird which sits patiently 
over it in the blazing sun of noon and the dew of night. 
Now, why should the Sunbird or the Crested Swift require 
to practise such arts when the dove and the bulbul get on 
without them ? The silly dove arranges a few twigs in a 
cactus bush and lays her eggs on them. If you pass by 
she dashes off in such a flutter that you cannot help 
looking up to see what is the matter, and there the eggs 
are, shining through the structure of the flimsy nest. It is 
a mystery ; but there is this difference between the egg of 
the Crested Swift and the egg of the dove — that the 
former is a precious thing destined to produce a Crested 
Swift, while the latter will come to nothing but a silly 
dove, with just intellect enough to find its food and grow 
fat for somebody to eat. And that which is precious is 
scarce. There is only one egg of the Crested Swift, and 
