Part 33 (1/2)

'Why do they frequent this particular part of the wood?' said Dugald

'Ah, boy,' replied the her Don't be ashamed of that; you are a true naturalist at heart Well, the parrots like to be by the them

You will notice, too, that yonder are so, open-branched trees, with flowers creeping and clinging around the stems Parrots love those trees, because while there they have sunshi+ne, and because birds of prey cannot easily tell which is parrot and which is flower or flae'

'Well, yes; but it is an advantage that also has a disadvantage, for our serpents are so lovely that even they are not easily seen by the parrots when they wriggle up a the orchids'

'Can the parrots defend theainst snakes?'

'Yes, they can, and sometimes even kill them I have noticed this, but as a rule they prefer to scare the And they can scream, too ”As deaf as an adder,” is a proverb; well, I believe it was the parrot that first deafened the adder, if deaf it be'

'Have you many birds of prey?'

'Yes, too '

'No, but you soon shall Here in the sunniest bank, and in this sunniest part of the wood, dwell a family of that reo I wonder if any one is at home'

As he spoke, the her to the surface a very curious little animal indeed, one of the tenderest of all armadilloes

It shi+vered as it cuddled into the herhed aloud

'Why,' he cried, 'it seems to end suddenly half-way down; and that droll tail looks stuck on for fun'

'Yes, it is altogether a freak of Nature, and the wonder toso tender, it lives here at all You see how s it is They say it is blind, but you observe it is not; although the creatures live round They also say that the _chlarand na under this pink or rosy shell jacket, but this I very o to bed, little one

'I have prettier pets than even these, two species of agoutis, for instance, very handsome little fellows indeed, and like rats in many of their ways and in ers, but often come out to meet me in my walks about the woods They live in burrows, but run about plentifully enough in the open air, although their enemies are very numerous Even the Indians capture and eat them, as often raw as not

'You have heard of the peccary Well, I have never encouraged these ee pigs, and for some years after I ca I found them, however, all over the place in herds I never knehere they came from, nor how they found us out But I do know that for e constant ith theood to eat?'

'They were tolerably good, especially the young, but I did not want for food; and, besides, they annoyed , and got thehly hated wherever they went'

'And how did you get rid of theic, and I have never seen nor heard one since But here we are at my stable'

'I see no stable,' I said

'Well, it is an enclosure of half an acre, and ht'