They Appeared Amused By My Story, And A Few Days
Later They Closely Interrogated Me On Three Consecutive Evenings As To
What I Had Seen That Was Remarkable That Day, In Birds Especially, And
Were Disappointed Because I Had Nothing Interesting To Tell Them.
The next day my brother said he had a confession to make to me.
He and
the elder brother had agreed to play a practical joke on me, and had
snared a common cowbird and dyed or painted its tail a brilliant
scarlet, then liberated it, expecting that I should meet with it in my
day's rambles and bird-watching in the plantation and would be greatly
excited at the discovery of yet a third purple cowbird, with a scarlet
tail, but otherwise not distinguishable from the common one. Now, on
reflection, he was glad I had not found their bird and given them
their laugh, and he was ashamed at having tried to play such a mean
trick on me!
CHAPTER XX
BIRDING IN THE MARSHES
Visiting the marshes - Pajonales and Juncales - Abundant bird life - A
Coots' metropolis - Frightening the Coots - Grebe and Painted Snipe
colonies - The haunt of the Social Marsh Hawk - The beautiful Jacana and
its eggs - The colony of Marsh Trupials - The bird's music - The aquatic
plant Durasmillo - The Trupial's nest and eggs - Recalling a beauty that
has vanished - Our games with gaucho boys - I am injured by a bad boy -
The shepherd's advice - Getting my revenge in a treacherous manner - Was
it right or wrong?
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