nest; and when she thinks she has gone

far enough,

she makes a great noise to attract your attention.

15. You think the nest is near that spot; but the quail is only cheating you. She is very cunning. If you follow her, she hobbles around as if she could neither run nor fly; but when she has led you far enough from the nest, she starts up suddenly, and flies rapidly away.

16. The partridge is another cunning bird-just as cunning as the quail. She has played the boys a trick many a time. This is the way she does it. The boy hears the partridge fluttering in the leaves, and making a great noise, as if her nest were there, and as if she were afraid the little fellow would find it.

17. When the boy runs to the place, the bird limps along, and flutters as if her wings were broken. But, my boy, you'll not find that nest; for the nest is away in another direction.

18. The truth is, when the partridge sees the boy-and she sees him when he is a great way off

-she covers her nest with leaves, and creeps off quite a distance, and so slily that he can neither see her nor hear her; and when the boy has followed her far enough, she starts

The Peacock.

up, and flies away "on whirring wings," like the quail.

19. But let us talk about some of the larger birds. The peacock, you know, is called a proud bird. He acts as if he thought every body was looking at him, and admiring his beauty. He is rather a pretty bird, to be sure; but why need he be so proud of it`?

20. There is the peacock's friend, the swan. He is a much more useful bird than the peacock, and has much more to be proud of. Perhaps he, too, has a little pride. He is rather awkward

peacock could not swim like him. In fact, I do not believe he could swim at all. Pride has a bad look, wherever you see it. To be proud of one's dress is the most foolish of all pride.

The Eagle.

can shoot him.

22. Who has not read about the eagle'? He is a noble bird. He will not feed on carrion.b He flies very high in the air, and does not often come where men Many stories are told of the eagle,

but we have not room for any of them here. 23. The vulture is a large bird, and has very filthy habits. Unlike the eagle, he feeds on carrion, which he scents at a great dis

tance; and when he finds it he greedily devours it, like a glutton."

f

24. People who are all the time searching out the faults of others, and talking about their failings, are sometimes likened to the vulturethey so much delight in finding out all that is impure and bad.

25. What are another's faults to me'?
I've not a vulture's bill,

To pick at every flaw I see,

And make it wider still'.

It is enough for me to know
I've follies of my own',

And on myself my care bestow,
Let others' faults alone.

a AT-TRACT', draw; engage.
b CAR'-BI-ON, putrid flesh.
C FILTH'-Y, dirty; nasty.
d SCENTS, smells.

e GREED'-I-LY, voraciously; ravenously.
GLUT'-TON, & voracious eater.
LI'-KENED, compared.

[LESSON XXXVI. is a brief description of the habits of the robin, bluebird, sparrows, three kinds of swallows, quail, partridge, peacock, swan, eagle, and vulture. Why are fault-finders, and slanderers, likened to the vulture?]

LESSON XXXVII.

I WOULD I WERE A LITTLE BIRD.

The Little Girl's Wish.

1. I would I were a little bird,
To fly so far and high;
And sail along the golden clouds,
And through the azure sky.
I'd be the first to see the sun

Up from the ocean spring;
And ere it touch'd the glittering spire,
His ray should gild my wing.

2. Above the hills I'd watch him still,
And down the crimson west;
And sing to him my evening song,
Ere yet I sought my rest.

And many a land I then should see,
As hill and plain I cross'd;

Nor fear, through all the pathless sky,
That I should e'er be lost.

3. I'd fly where, round the olive boughs
The vine its tendrile weaves;

And shelter from the noonbeams seek
Among the myrtle leaves.

Now, if I climb our highest hill,
How little can I see'!10
Oh, if I had but wings, mamma,
How happy should I be!

The Mother's Reply.

4. Wings can not soar above the sky,
As thou in thought canst do;
Nor can the veilingf clouds confine

Thy mental eye's keen view.
Not to the sun dost thou chant forth
Thy simple evening hymn;

Thou praisest Him, before whose smile
The noonday's sun grows dim.

5. Though strong and free, the bird may droop,
Or bars restrain its flight;

Thought none can stay; more swift its speed
Than snowy beams of light.

A lovelier clime the bird may seek,
With summer go and come-
Beyond the earth awaits for thee
A bright eternal home.

bGLIT'-TER-ING, shining.

a Az'-URE, light blue.

SPIRE, steeple.

GILD, cause to shine like gold.

e TEN'-DRIL, a slender, twining part of a plant.

VEIL-ING, hiding; concealing.

"MENTAL EYE," the mind's eye.

[In LESSON XXXVII., a little girl expresses the delight she thinks she should feel, if she could soar away on wings, like a bird, and visit distant lands. It is a childish dream of happiness, which the mother avails herself of for a beautiful moral lesson. In her reply she tells the little girl that thought can soar higher than wings, and fly swifter than light; and, finally, contrasts the bird's evening song to the sun, with the child's evening hymn; and the sunny southern home of the bird, with the child's eternal home.]