, Ellen, it is but one of your fancies. You would like
it to be the case; it would be so interesting and romantic, and so you
cannot help thinking that it must be so," observed John.

Ellen was eager at once to introduce me to her pets. Nimble and Toby
knew me immediately, and climbed up my back without hesitation.

"Here," said Ellen, "is a dear little bird." It was a small heron of a
very graceful shape. The plumage was variegated with bars and spots of
several colours, as are the wings of certain moths. She called it, and
it immediately came up to her with a peculiarly dainty, careful gait.
An insect was crawling along the ground. It immediately afterwards
pierced it with its slender beak, and gobbled it up. It was the _ardea
helias_. John said he had seen the birds perched on the lower branches
of trees in shady spots: their note is a soft, long-drawn whistle; they
build their nests in trees, of clay, very beautifully constructed.

"Now I must introduce my _curassow_ turkey," she said, calling another
very handsome bird, almost as large as an ordinary turkey. It was of a
dark-violet colour, with a purplish-green gloss on the back and breast.
The lower part was of the purest white, while the crest was of a bright
golden-yellow, greatly increasing the beauty of the bird. John called
it the crested curassow--the _crax alector_.

"See," she said, "I have greatly increased the number of my feathered
friends. Look at this beautiful marianna."

It was a small parrot, with a black head, a white breast, and orange
neck and thighs--a most lovely little creature. As soon as she called
it, it came down from its perch and sprang upon her wrist. When she
again let it go, off it went, poking its head into the various articles
on the verandah, examining a basket of fruits which Oria had just
brought in, and the pots of which Domingos had charge; now pecking at
one thing, now another. Our Indian friend had brought her another
parrot called an _anaca_. This was also a beautiful bird, its breast
and belly banded with blue and red, while the back of the neck and head
were covered with long bright-red feathers margined with blue. True
approaching it, up went the crest, looking remarkably handsome. From
this crest it obtains the name of the hawk-head parrot. It came when
called, but quickly retired in rather a solemn fashion to its perch.

"Do you know," said Ellen, "Oria has brought me that beautiful little
duck y