Swiss Family Robinson

rushing noise terrified us all dreadfully. A very large and powerful bird sprang upward on the wing. Both boys attempted to take aim, but the bird was far away before they were ready to fire.
    `"Oh dear, what a pity!" exclaimed Ernest; "now if I had only had my light gun, and if the bird had not flown quite so fast, I should have brought him down directly!"
    `"Oh yes," said I, "no doubt you would be a capital sportsman if only your game would always give you time to make ready comfortably."
    `"But I had no notion that anything was going to fly up just at our feet like that," cried he.
    `"A good shot," I replied, "must be prepared for surprises: neither wild birds nor wild beasts will send you notice that they are about to fly or to run."
    `"What sort of bird can it have been?' inquired Jack.
    `"Oh, it certainly must have been an eagle," answered little Franz, "it was so very big!"
    `"Just as if every big bird must be an eagle!" replied Ernest, in a tone of derision.
    `"Let's see where he was sitting, at all events!" said I.
    `Jack sprang towards the place, and instantly a second bird, rather larger than the first, rushed upward into the air, with a most startling noise.
    `The boys stood staring upwards, perfectly stupefied, while I laughed heartily, saying, "Well, you are first-rate sportsmen, to be sure! You certainly will keep my larder famously well supplied!"
    `At this, Ernest coloured up, and looked inclined to cry, while Jack put on a comical face, pulled off his cap, and with a low bow, called after the fugitive, "Adieu for the present, sir! I live in hopes of another meeting!"
    `On searching the ground carefully, we discovered a rude sort of nest made untidily of dry grass. It was empty, although we perceived broken egg-shells at no great distance, and concluded that the young brood had escaped among the grass, which, in fact, we could see was waving at a little distance, as the little birds ran through it.
    `"Now look here, Franz," said Ernest, presently, "just consider how this bird could by any possibility have been an eagle. Eagles never build on the ground, neither can their young leave the nest and run as soon as they are out of the egg. That is a peculiarity of the gallinaceous tribe of birds alone, to which then these must belong. The species, I think, is indicated by the white belly and dull red colour of the wing coverts which I observed in these specimens, and I believe them to be bustards, especially as I noticed in the largest the fine moustache-like feathers over the beak, peculiar to the Great Bustard."
    `"My dear boy!" I said, " your eyes were actively employed, I must confess, if your fingers were unready with the gun. And after all, it is just as well, perhaps, that we have not thrown the bustard's family into mourning."
    `Thus chatting, we at length approached my pretty wood. Numbers of birds fluttered and sang among the high branches, but I did not encourage the boys in their wish to try to shoot any of the happy little creatures. We were lost in admiration of the trees of this grove, and I cannot describe to you how wonderful they are, nor can you form the least idea of their enormous size without seeing them yourself. What we had been calling a wood proved to be a group of about a dozen trees only, and, what was strange, the roots sustained the massive trunks exalted in the air, forming strong arches, and props and stays all around each individual stem, which was firmly rooted in the centre.
    `I gave Jack some twine, and scrambling up one of the curious open-air roots, he succeeded in measuring round the trunk itself, and made it out to be about eighteen yards. I saw no sort of fruit, but the foliage is thick and abundant, throwing delicious shade on the ground beneath, which is carpeted with soft green herbage, and entirely free from thorns, briars, or bushes of any kind. It is the most charming resting-place that ever was seen, and I and the boys enjoyed our midday meal immensely in this glorious palace of the woods, so grateful to our senses after the glare and heat of our journey thither.
    `The dogs joined us after a while. They had lingered behind on the sea-shore, and I was surprised to see them lie down and go comfortably to sleep without begging for food, as they do usually when we eat.
    `The longer we remained in this enchanting place, the more did it charm my fancy; and if we could but manage to live in some sort of dwelling up among the branches of those grand, noble trees, I