THE ELLE MAIDS:

A SCANDINAVIAN LEGEND.

Elves and Ellé people both belong to the class Alfar. The Danish peasantry give the following account of them: The Elle people live on the Elle moors. The appearance of the man is that of an old man with a low-crowned hat on his head. The Elle woman is young and of a fair and attractive countenance; but behind she is hollow, like a dough trough. Young men should be especially on their guard against her, for it is very difficult to resist her; and she has, moreover, a stringed instrument, which, when she plays it, quite ravishes their hearts. The man may be often seen near the Ellé moors, bathing himself in the sunbeams; but if anyone comes too near him, he opens his mouth and breathes upon them, and his breath produces sickness and pestilence. But the women are most frequently to be seen by moonshine; then they dance their rounds in the high grass so lightly and gracefully, that they seldom meet with a denial when they offer their hand to a rash young man. Keightley's Fairy Mythology, page 81.

FAIR is the evening and brilliant the star-shine,

Silvery clear rides the moon in the sky;

"Homeward to-night will my walk be full pleasant,"
Says Rolf, as he biddeth old Oluf good-bye.

"Good e'en to you, Rolf!" quoth old Oluf the shepherd, "Safe be thy journey and pleasant as well;

Only beware of the false Ellé maidens,

Who dance in the moonlight, as many folks tell."

Scarcely Rolf heedeth the old shepherd's warning,
Light in his heart as he walketh along
Under the star-spangled, clear northern heavens,
Chanting a catch of an old Norse war-song.

Soon he is mid-way 'twixt Aasum and Seden,
Suddenly music breaks soft on his ear;
Wondrously beautiful, weird, sweet, and tender-
Then he beholdeth a hill that stands near,

Raised on red pillars, and all underneath it,
Was dancing and feasting, and revelry;
""Tis an elf banquet, and Oluf spake truly,"
Fearing to look it at, on hurrieth he.

But as he tremblingly hasteneth past it
Forth come two Ellé maids, winsome and fair,
Over their shoulders float long golden tresses;
Garments spun of the white moonbeams they wear.

One in her lily hand beareth a goid cup,

Pledge me, brave Rolf," she crieth with glee; "Wilt thou return again?" questioned the other, "Wilt thou return and dance with me?"

"That will I gladly," said Rolf, as he pledged them Deep in the goblet of sparkling elf-wine;

And fear no longer he feels for the spirits
That frolic by night in the pale moonshine.

Then he again takes his way towards Aasum,
Safely he reaches his own cottage home;
But from that fatal night, rest found he never,
Ever again to the Elves he would roam.

Closely his friends watched and strove to prevent him
Once in their power he would never return;
For he had told them he promised the Elle maids,
And till he could join them he ever would mourn.

Often he tried to elude their close watching,
Of passionate longing at length poor Rolf died;
But still in the moonlight the Elves dance right featly,
Travellers lonely to bewitch and misguide.

;

GERDA.

NILE-BOAT RECREATIONS.

BY A. LEITH ADAMS, F.R.S.

CHAPTER III.

Colouring of the Plumage of Desert Animals.-Desert-Loving Birds.-Migratory Instinct.-Swallows.-Birds peculiar to the Nile Banks.-Water Fowl.

THE plumage of many desert birds, like that of the denizens of arctic regions, and of the ever-green vegetation of the tropics, assimilates closely to the colouring of surrounding objects. The advantages are obvious, and with no class of animals are these more apparent than in the beasts and birds frequenting the open desert. As examples, the gazelle, fennec, jackal, and ichneumon, various larks, sand-grouse, and so forth among birds, are, thereby, enabled to not only escape from their enemies, but many of them are better fitted to steal on their prey. The quail, snipe, and woodcock are other familiar instances. The sand-grouse, however, are peculiarly adapted to escape observation by the pale, fulvous colouring of the plumage. These birds are usually met with at midday in the open desert in large flocks, where they squat on the approach of danger, and until we are almost on the point of treading on them; indeed, they may be dispersed in hundreds all around and within a few yards of the observer, and yet not a single individual will be seen. Lying on their bellies, with the head extended and resting on the sand, they remain motionless, and we look in vain for an object of any sort to break the eternal sameness of the sandy waste. The decep

tion in this instance is complete, and one wonders how much of the colouring of the plumage of these birds is owing to long and constant exposure to the bleaching effects of the desert, or whether the verdant hues of the tropical forests communicate their tinges to the animated and unanimated objects constantly exposed to their influences; there are many exceptions, however. The oldest monuments of Egypt standing on the deserts have assumed the same hue as that of the surrounding wilderness. As regards the colour of the human race in connection with this country, the traveller, Dr. Schweinfurth, in his remarkable work on the "Heart of Africa," speaking of the natives of Bongo, or the White Nile, says-" The complexion of the Bongo in colour is not disimilar to the red-brown soil upon which they reside; the Denka, on the other hand, are black as

their own native alluvium." At all events, when one thinks of the vast geological epochs, and the pre-historical age of the oldest humar remains of art in Egypt and more eastern countries, there is ample time allowed for these changes in animals, as well as in the

monuments.

The redstarts and desert chats are various and attractive. The white-fronted redstart is to be seen about the villages, also the black species; the last, however, is not nearly so common. The stone-chat winters in Egypt, also the wheatear and yellow and greythroated and pied wagtails. The sombre wagtail, somewhat like the last, is often observed about the first cataract. In the fields are flocks of the red-throated pipet, and around Thebes any one with sporting proclivities may bag at early morn, or at dusk, several brace of the pin-tailed grouse, and other allied but less common species, such as the beautiful crowned and the Senegal sand-grouse.

The quail is not to say plentiful, but there are few vetchfields where several couples may not be procured during the cold months. The sand-grouse are represented on the monuments, and the quail appears among many votive offerings to the gods, and in the bird-catching scenes. It was not sacred, and there is no recorded. instance of any mummied specimens. Returning to the deserthaunting birds, there are several black and white chats remarkable for the purity of these colours. The white-headed chat (Dromolœa leucocephala) is common on the sterile wastes of Nubia, around deserted villages and ruined temples, where its black and white-tailed mate (D. leucopygia) is still more common, and has been mistaken for a distinct species.

The russet-coloured wheatear (Saxicola lugens) is more common in Egypt than between the first and second cataracts, where another russet-clad chat, the desert wheatear, is to be seen. Often, during excursions among the sand dunes of Nubia, the traveller comes suddenly on a brownish-yellow nightjar (Caprimulgus isabellinus), lying close on the sand in some little hole it has scooped in the open. Like the sand-grouse and many desert-loving larks, the colour of the plumage is eminently adapted to protect it from its foes, being of the pale yellowish brown of the surrounding wastes. About the pyramids and elsewhere, either single or in small flocks, will be noticed the desert-lark (certhilauda desertorum); and in like situations, mostly in the ravines and desert places, is the isabelcoloured lark (galerida isabellina). It is readily recognised on wing, from the transparency of the quill feathers. There are several species of small desert larks of a sandy coloured plumage-to wit, the pallid-lark finch (ammomones pallida), and the little sandark (mirafra cordofanica.)

A very game little partridge, named Hey's Partridge, like a

diminutive red-legged partridge, is met with in coveys in the rocky parts of Nubia. A few may always be found on the bare hills behind Dendor; and on the desert plains throughout the country flocks of the isabel-coloured courser are plentiful. The last is so well protected by its plumage as to be scarcely likely to be observed until frightened, when it runs with amazing rapidity. Associated with this courser may be often observed the Norfolk plover, and the swift-footed bifaciated lark is also common. Its handsome form on the desert sands, far away from civilisation, is sure to attract the attention of the wayfarer.

Among the desert-haunting birds, the celebrated blue thrush is occasionally observed, especially among the rocky parts at the cataracts, and the deserted and ruined villages of Nubia; its mellow, melodious, and plaintive notes sound sweet on the ear, and more especially by contrast with the usual muteness of the other denizens of the wastes. One of the most attractive and delicately-coloured birds of the country is the little trumpeter-bullfinch. Along the confines of cultivation, and in rocky situations bordering on the desert, its clear, twinkling call is often heard where the sandy colouring of the plumage hides its form from view. Sometimes, when a flock are intently feeding, all of a sudden there is a commotion among them, and like an arrow, a sparrow-hawk has pounced down on some luckless individual, and is bearing it away in his talons, pursued by the whole flock, the same incident occurring frequently with the common linnet, which is abundant in Egypt during the cold months, and frequents like situations.

Nearly all the birds of Egypt and Nubia are common to Southern Europe or Northern Africa. The two former are their winter homes for the most part; and as soon at the hot winds set in towards the end of March they commence the retrograde movement northwards. It is curious to observe how lethargic some of the species seem, as if they were not enjoying themselves, and longing to be up and off to their breeding-ground in more northern climes. The migratory instinct seems to seize the bird without reference to failure of food or change of climate-it appears, in fact, constitutional; but, at the same time, although inherited from parent to offspring, the chances are that, in the first instances, certain birds were driven from their retreats through the failure of food and change of climate; and by pursuing routes indicated by the cooler or warm winds, as the case might be, they at last established a temperament or natural disposition to quit at a given time. The furor, or whatever it might be called, comes on unconsciously and impels the creature to be up and off. It is constantly observed in such as swallows and other migratory species, who get very excited towards the times of departure.