A rainbow in the morning is the shepherd's warning,
A rainbow at night is the shepherd's delight.
Can you explain this omen?

B. A rainbow can only occur when the clouds containing or depositing the rain are opposite to the sun, and in the evening the rainbow is in the east, and in the morning in the west; and as our heavy rains, in this climate, are usually brought by the westerly wind, a rainbow in the west indicates that the bad weather is on the road, by the wind, to us; whereas the rainbow in the east proves that the rain in these clouds is passing away from us.

A. I have often observed that when the swallows fly high, fine weather is to be expected or continued; but when they fly low and close to the ground, rain is almost surely approaching. Can you account for this?

B. Swallows follow the flies and gnats, and flies and gnats usually delight in warm strata of air; and as warm air is lighter, and usually moister than cold air, when the warm strata of air are higher, there is less chance of moisture being thrown down from them by the mixture with cold air; but when the warm and moist air is close to the surface it is almost certain that as the cold air flows down into it a deposition of water will take place.

A. I have often seen sea-gulls assemble on the land, and I have almost always observed that very stormy and rainy weather was approaching. I

conclude that these animals, sensible of a current of air approaching from the ocean, retire to the land to shelter themselves from the storm.

B. No such thing. The storm is their element; and the little petrel enjoys the heaviest gale, because, living on the smaller sea insects, he is sure to find his food in the spray of a heavy wave, and you may see him flitting above the edge of the highest surge. I believe that the reason of this migration of sea-gulls and other sea-birds to the land is their security of finding food; and they may be observed, at this time, feeding greedily on the earth-worms and larvæ driven out of the ground by severe floods; and the fish, on which they prey in fine weather in the sea, leave the surface and go deeper in storms. The search after food is the principal cause why animals change their places. The different tribes of the wading birds always migrate when rain is about to take place. The vulture upon the same principle follows armies; and the augury of the ancients was a good deal founded upon the observation of the instincts of birds. For anglers, in spring, it is always unlucky to see single magpies, but two is a favourable omen; and the reason is, that in bad weather one magpie alone leaves the nest in search of food, the other remaining sitting upon the eggs or the young ones; but when two go out together, it is only when the weather is warm and mild, and favourable for fishing.

Refracts.--Literally, breaks back; from Latin, re, back, and frango, I break. A ray of light is said to be refracted when it is bent out of the straight line in which it would naturally proceed. This refraction usually takes place when the ray passes from one medium to another, as from water into air. A simple illustration will show this. If a straight stick is partially plunged into water, the stick will appear to the eye to be crooked. The reason is that the rays of light proceeding from that part of the stick which is covered with water are refracted the moment they pass from the water into the air, and as the eye always sees the object in the line in which the ray enters it, the stick must necessarily appear bent. Reflects.-Literally, bends back; from Latin, re, back, and flecto, I bend. A ray of light is said to be reflected when the whole or any portion of it is thrown back by the body on which it falls.

Augury of the ancients.

- The Romans never entered

upon any important undertaking without endeavouring
beforehand to ascertain the will of the gods. Among
other things, great reliance was placed on the cries,
flight, and feeding of birds.
The whole system was

placed under the control of a college of Augurs, whose
duty it was, on all important occasions, to consult the
omens. The word augur is derived from Latin avis, a
bird, and gero, I bear, and indicates pretty clearly that
the way in which birds bore themselves furnished a lead-
ing source of omens.

QUESTIONS:-1. Why do red clouds in the west at evening portend good weather? 2. What is meant by "refraction"? 3. Give an illustration of refraction. 4. What is meant by "reflection"? 5. Why is a halo round the moon an indication of rainy weather? 6. How is this halo produced? 7. Repeat the proverb quoted in the lesson. 8. Explain how this proverb often proves correct. 9. What omens may be deduced from the flight of swallows? 10. What determines whether the swallows fly high or low? 11. Why do sea-gulls move inland before a storm?

UNDERNEATH an old oak tree

There was of swine a huge company,
That grunted as they crunch'd the mast;
For that was ripe and fell full fast.

Then they trotted away, for the wind it grew high:
One acorn they left and no more might you spy.
Next came a Raven that liked not such folly;
He belonged, they did say, to the witch Melancholy!
Blacker was he than blackest jet,

Flew low in the rain and his feathers not wet.
He picked up the acorn and buried it straight
By the side of a river both deep and great.
Where then did the Raven go?

He went high and low,

Over hill, over dale, did the black Raven go.
Many autumns, many springs
Travelled he with wandering wings:
Many summers, many winters-

I can't tell half his adventures.

At length he came back, and with him a she,
And the acorn was grown to a tall oak tree.
They built them a nest on the topmost bough,
And young ones they had and were happy enow.
But soon came a woodman in leathern guise,
His brow, like a pent-house, hung over his eyes.
He'd an axe in his hand, not a word he spoke,
But with many a hem! and a sturdy stroke,
At length he brought down the poor Raven's old
oak.

His young ones were killed, for they could not depart,

And their mother did die of a broken heart.

The boughs from the trunk the woodman did sever; And they floated it down on the course of the river. They sawed it in planks, and its bark they did strip, And with this tree and others they made a good ship. The ship it was launched; but in sight of the land Such a storm there did rise as no ship could withstand.

It bulged on a rock, and the waves rushed in fast; Round and round flew the Raven and cawed to the

blast.

He heard the last shriek of the perishing souls— See! see! o'er the top-mast the mad water rolls!

Right glad was the Raven, and off he went fleet, And Death riding home on a cloud he did meet, And he thanked him again and again for this treat; They had taken his all, and revenge it was sweet. S. T. COLERIDGE.