-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 fol

The Peacock.

lowed her far enough, she starts

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

when he waddles about on the land; but just let him get into the water, and then look at him! 21. How prettily he paddles himself along! How gracefully he curves his neck! The 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 Swan.

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 can shoot him. Many stories are told of the eagle, but we have not room for any of them here.

The Eagle.

23. The vulture is a large bird, and has very filthy habits. Unlike the eagle, he feeds on car

rion, which he scents" at a great distance; and when he finds it he greedily devours it, like a glutton.'

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.

• AT-TRACT', draw; engage. b CAR'-RI-ON, putrid flesh.

e FILTH'-Y, dirty; nasty. d SCENTS, Smells.

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

[LESSON XXXVI. is a brief description of the habits of the robin, blucbird, 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.

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.

a Az'-URE, light blue.

GLIT-TER-ING, shining,

SPIRE, steeple.

d 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.]

LESSON XXXVIII.

OLD WONDER-EYES.

1. When Grace Greenwood was in England, she visited a family who lived in a large house in the country, around which were beautiful gardens, and green lawns," and a great many pet animals, such as dogs, rare white kittens, gay

parrots, canaries, and silver pheasants.

2. One of these pets was an owl, that sat all alone by himself in a large green cage. He was a cross and surlyd old fellow. Grace Greenwood says, in her book called the Little Pilgrim, "I tried very hard to make friends with this owl, but it was of no use: he never treated me with decent civility.R

3. "One day, when I was offering him a bit of cake, he caught my finger, and bit it till it bled; and I said to Mrs. M- 'Why do you keep that cross old creature'?' I noticed that my friend looked sad when she answered me, saying, 'We only keep him for our dear little Minnie's sake: he was her pet.' I had never heard of little Minnie, so I asked about her, and was told the following story."

4. Minnie was a sweet, gentle little girl, who