sticks, moss, down, cotton, or a hundred little things picked up here and there with great pains, and laid in order in the place they have chosen. Their bills and their claws are the only instruments they use in forming the nests. Some kinds of birds hang their nests from the branches of trees, which are set in motion by every breath of wind. Others collect gravel and leaves, which they cement by moisture, and thus form a house through which neither air nor rain can pass. Nests of this kind are usually found in the corners of chimneys or of rocks.

Some birds build their nests upon the ground between hillocks of earth, which protect them from the wind and an overflow of water. Others simply dig a hole in the sand, where they lay their eggs, which they leave the sun to hatch during the day, but to which they return at night.

The nest of the long-tailed titmouse is a very curious one. This bird is not much larger than a wren; its head, neck, and breast are white; the rest of its body is chiefly black; its tail, from which it obtains its name, is very long and sharp, like a wedge. Its nest is closed over both above and below; only one little round opening is left at the side, which serves for door and window. As the cold might enter by this opening, the bird makes use of door curtains, just as we make use of curtains in our rooms. The curtain is made of soft feathers, which protect the nest from rain,

and from the gaze of passers-by. Through this curtain the bird goes out and comes in just as it pleases. This is not all; the titmouse is a very small bird, and has many enemies. In order to hide its nest, it fixes it to the trunk of a tree, and then covers it up with the moss that grows on the bark, so as to make it as like the tree as possible.

Birds.

OH, the birds, the sunny birds!
Thousands in the groves are sitting,
Thousands o'er the fields are flitting;
On the bushes one commences,
Thousands answer from the fences,
Small ones in the tree-tops talking,
Large ones in the water walking;
Many sizes, many races,
Loving all their several places-
Oh the birds, the merry birds !

Oh, the birds, the friendly birds!
They disdain the desert places,
Where they see no human faces,
But they love the homestead hedges,
And the woodland's outer edges,

And the meadows and the thistles,

Where the ploughman plods and whistles.

How their little eyelids glisten

When they turn their heads to listen,

Yes, the birds, the friendly birds!

Oh, the birds, the singing birds!
Singing in the morning sunlight,
Singing in the evening twilight;
On tall weeds, in meadows, swinging
In the summer sun, and singing;-—
Singing sweetly, singing sadly,
Singing softly, singing gladly,
Earth is vocal, heaven is ringing,
With the joyous, ceaseless singing
Of the birds, the singing birds.

QUESTIONS:-1. Do all kinds of birds build the same kind of nests? 2. What are birds of prey? 3. Where do they generally build their nests? 4. What do they use in building their nests? 5. Wherein do the nests of birds of prey differ from those of most other birds? 6. Of what are nests most commonly made? 7. What instrument does a bird use in building its nest? 8. Mention some of the places where nests may be found. 9. Name any bird that builds its nest against a house-in trees-on the ground-in marshes -in the sand, &c. 10. Give an account of the nest of the titmouse. 11. How does this bird show its ingenuity? 12. How does it conceal its nest? 13. At what time of the year do birds build their nests?

LESSON IX.

A Latch Wanted.

a-jar', partly open.

con-fin'-ed, kept in.

latch, a piece of wood or metal for fastening a gate.

pell-mell, in great confusion.

fort'-night, fourteen days, two ob-ligʻ-ed, forced, made to.

weeks.

hue and cry, a chase with loud pro'-verb, a short wise saying.

little gate wanted a latch, and so could not be fastened. When the farmer passed through the gate, he was always very careful to pull it after him; but other people were not always so careful. Even with all his care, the wind would often blow it open after he had closed it. The result was that the gate was generally either flapping backwards and forwards in the wind or standing ajar.

In consequence, the hens were always getting out, and the sheep and lambs always getting in; and it took half the children's time to run after the chickens and drive them back into the yard, and to send the sheep and lambs back into the field. His wife often told the farmer to mend the gate, but he put it off day after day, and the gate remained without the latch.

One day a fat pig ran out of its sty, and pushing open the gate ran into the field, and thence wandered into a large wood. The pig was soon missed, and a hue and cry was raised after it. The farmer was tying up a horse in the stable, but he left it to run after the pig. His wife was ironing some clothes in the kitchen, and she left her iron to follow her husband. The daughter was stirring some broth over the fire, and she left it to run after her mother. The farmer's sons and his servant joined in the chase after the pig, and away they all went, men and women, pell-mell, in the wood.

But the servant, making more haste than good speed, sprained his ankle in jumping over a fence;

and the farmer and his sons were obliged to give up the pursuit of the pig, to carry the lame man back to the house.

When they returned, they found that the broth had boiled over, and the dinner was spoiled; and that two shirts, which had been hanging to dry before the fire, were scorched and utterly ruined. The farmer scolded his wife, and boxed the girl's ears for being so careless, as not to remove the shirts and the broth from the fire before they left the kitchen. He then went to his stable and found that the horse, which he had left loose, had kicked a fine young colt, and had broken its leg. The servant was confined to the house for a fortnight by the hurt on his ankle.

Thus, without taking into account the pain the servant suffered, the farmer lost two weeks' work of his servant, a fine colt, a fat pig, and his two best shirts, to say nothing of the loss of the broth for his dinner, and all for the want of a sixpenny latch.

In this way did two good old proverbs come

true :

"For want of a nail the wheel comes off."

"A stitch in time saves nine."

QUESTIONS:-1. What is a latch? 2. In what state was the farmer's gate? 3. What happened in consequence of the gate having no latch? 4. Who joined in the chase of the pig? 5. What happened at home when all were after the pig? 6. State the loss the farmer had to endure through want of the latch. 7. What is a proverb? 8. What two proverbs does this lesson illustrate?