> It was a human being—a girl form, reclining on the moss among the ferns and the herbage, near the roots of a small tree. One arm was doubled up behind her neck for her head to rest upon, while the other arm was held extended before her, the hand raised towards a small brown bird perched on a pendulous twig just beyond its reach. She appeared to be playing with the bird, possibly amusing herself by trying to entice it on to her hand; and the hand appeared to tempt it greatly, for it persistently hopped up and down, turning rapidly about this way and that, flirting its wings … Continue reading >William Henry Hudson