light shawl, or even a yard of muslin, to lay across the
wire you can step over (thus covering the mischievous barbs), while a
good friend holds up with strong hand the next wire, and you slip
through. Thus you may pass this cruel device of man without accident.

Having circumvented the fence, the next task was to descend the steep
sides of the ravine. The difficulty was, not to get down, for that could
be done almost anywhere, but to go right side up; to land on the feet
and not on the head was the test of sure-footedness and climbing
ability. We conquered that obstacle, cautiously creeping down rocky
steps, and over slippery soil, steadying ourselves by bushes, clasping
small tree-trunks, scrambling over big ones that lay prone upon the
ground, and thus we safely reached the level of the stream. Then we
passed along more easily, stooping under low trees, crossing the beds of
tiny brooks, encircling clumps of shrubbery (and catching the night's
cobwebs on our faces), till we reached a fallen tree-trunk that seemed
made for resting. There we seated ourselves, to breathe, and to see who
lived in the place.

One of the residents proclaimed himself at once,

"To left and right
The cuckoo told his name to all the hills,"--

and in a moment we saw him, busy with his breakfast. His manner of
hunting was interesting; he stood perfectly still on a branch, his beak
pointed upward, but his head so turned that one eye looked downward.
When something attracted him, he almost fell off his perch, seized the
morsel as he passed, alighted on a lower branch, and at once began
looking around again. There was no frivolity, no flitting about like a
little bird; his conduct was grave and dignified, and he was absolutely
silent, except when at rare intervals he mounted a branch and uttered
his call, or song, if one might so call it. He managed his long tail
with grace and expression, holding it a little spread as he moved about,
thus showing the white tips and "corners."

While we were absorbed in cuckoo affairs the sun peeped over the trees,
and the place was transfigured. Everything, as I said, was charged with
water, and looking against the sun, some drops hanging from the tip of a
leaf glowed red as rubies, others shone out blue as sapphires, while
here and there one scintillated with many colors like a diamond, now
flashing red, and now yellow or blue.

"The humblest weed
Wore its own corona