NEBULA TO MAN 
Are busy here. Some Quails have come, 
And through the pine woods Capercaillies roam. 
Some swallow forms are twittering in the sun ; 175 
And pheasants in the woody coverts run. 
Sandgrouse and pigeons here have found their way, 
And crows and shrikes. Here owls waylay 
Snails, beetles, rats and other passing prey. 
In marshy haunts, and through well rivered plains, 1 80 
Are other forms bespeaking Rails and Cranes. 
And Snipe-like Godwits through the marshes fly, 
And Hornbills ply their beaky husbandry. 
Forerunners of the songsters too are here ; 
Nut-hatches, wagtails, starlings these appear. 185 
And birds that may exploring flight have bent 
From woody haunts in Afric's continent 
Enlife the feathered throng. Some Trogons seek 
New quarters here. And Plaintain-eaters shriek 
Amongst the trees. Bold parrots hither wing, 1 90 
And settle down, with scream and chattering. 
Hoopoes whose frequent notes sound as their name 
A merciless toll on worms and insects claim. 
And Secretary-birds search snaky lairs, 
Stalking about as though the land were theirs. 195 
Changed and advanced indeed has bird life been 
From what far back, in Jura times, was seen. 
128 
