r feathers."

"Why not, Nat," he replied laughing, "when in dull, foggy old England,
where there is so little sunshine, the pigeons and doves have beautiful
iris-like reflections on their necks and breasts? Now for the thrush.
There, Nat, that is a beauty. I should have felt that I had done a good
day's work if I had only secured that dainty prize with its delicately
harmonious coat of soft grey and blue."

"And it is a thrush, uncle?"

"Certainly. Look at the beak. This is one of the Pittas or
ground-thrushes, Nat, of which there are a good many out in these
islands. Some of them are, I believe, much more brightly coloured than
this; but bright plumage is not all we want, my boy; it is new
specimens, Nat. We must be discoverers as well as collectors."

By this time the lovely thrush was hung with the two pigeons carefully
by the beaks to a long bamboo, and after we had explained to our black
companion, by means of a little dumb-show, that he must carry the bamboo
carefully, a task which, after a few skips and bounds to show his
delight, he undertook to perform. We went on again, trusting to him to
find the way back through the wilderness of great tree trunks, some of
which rose, without a branch, to a vast height above our heads, but only
to make up for it afterwards, for the branches then clustered so thickly
that all the sunshine was shut out, and we walked in the deep shadow,
save where here and there we found an opening which looked quite
dazzling by contrast. Here it was that we found flowers growing, and
saw traces enough of insects to make us determine to bring
collecting-boxes another time, on purpose to obtain the glorious beetles
and butterflies that we saw here and there.

"Look, uncle," I cried; "there's another, and another. Oh, if I had my
butterfly-net!"

For I kept seeing beetles of dazzling lustre, and butterflies marked
with such brilliant colours, that I was ready to throw down my gun and
rush off in chase.

"Yes, this is a better collecting ground than Clapham Common, Nat," said
my uncle. "We ought to have plenty of pinning out to do to-morrow
night. To-day I hope to be busy enough making skins. Hist! Look at
the black."

I had just time to save the bamboo with the birds from being thrown down
upon the ground by our companion, who went upon hands and knees, and
crawled forward a short distance to the shelter of some bushes at the
edge of a bright opening, where the sun poured