months, seeking its insect prey on the pebbly margin of our lakes and rivers. It leaves us in the autumn; but to what place it wings its flight has not, we believe, been noticed. There is something peculiarly sweet and musical in the clear piping cry of this elegant little bird, as it skims along the shores of some of the northern lakes ; the sound, on a still summer night, breaking at intervals on the ear, then dying away in the distance. These notes are rendered still more pleasing, by the circumstance of their being considered as certain indications of the continuance of fine weather, by the inhabitants of those districts in which the sandpiper takes up its summer abode.

In our island climate, it is always " a pleasant thing to behold the sun," and those sights and sounds of nature, which from their more frequent occurrence in warm and genial seasons, are supposed to foretel fine weather, are welcomed with cheerful, sometimes with almost affectionate feelings, by those whose amusements or employments lead them much into the open air.

The pretty scarlet pimpernel, with its appropriate name, the shepherd's weather-glass, though it brings not, like the song of the sandpiper, the hope of settled fine weather, is said only to expand its blossom in the morning, when no rain

falls during the day. Those who in childhood, at the commencement of an excursion in the country, have watched with anxiety for its beautiful, salver-shaped blossom and purple eye, will seldom pass it in their walks, without feeling as if they had been gladdened by the face of a kind and cheerful friend, wishing them a pleasant ramble, and promising the enjoyment of dry footpaths and sun-lighted prospects. The voice of such a friend, is that of the little sandpiper, to those who wander amidst the mountains of Westmoreland and Cumberland, or sail on their silver lakes.

THE SANDPIPER.

Gay little bird of the lake's green shores,
Thy sweet wild notes the wanderer hails,
In the ling'ring pauses of homeward oars,
Or the slow dull flapping of idle sails.

Night is hastening on ; but we hear thy song,
And the deep'ning shadows no more we see;
With light hearts now we are gliding along,
For the syren Hope, has sung with thee.

There is music that tells, in that piping cry,
Of joy and beauty a thousand tales,
Of glorious suns in the clear, bright sky,
That will gild our path among hill and vales.

K

When thou trillest thy song, summer's balmy wing
Chases mists and clouds from the mountain's brow;
More sweetly the birds of the grove may sing,
But none are so welcome and gay as thou.

ORDER GRALLE.

The White Stork.

L.

Ardea Ciconia.

THE white storks, though now rare visitants, are still occasionally found in this country. One was shot in the county of Suffolk last year. They are birds of such pleasing and interesting habits, that if we knew by what means they might be induced to colonize in our island, we should certainly attempt to lure them hither. Unlike the black stork, who selects as its favourite haunts the lonely desert and the desolate morass, and builds its nest in the depths of the forest, the white stork seeks the neighbourhood of mankind, and fixes its abode in populous cities. Every where it is the welcome and confiding guest of man, building its nest on the roof of his house,

and seeking its prey in his fields and gardens. It is peculiarly protected in Holland, where it makes itself very valuable to the inhabitants, by clearing the marshes and humid valleys from the lizards, serpents, frogs, and other reptiles with which they are infested. The Vaudois honour it for the same cause, and will not suffer it to be molested. The Oriental nations generally regard it as a sacred bird, and prohibit its destruction. The Arab looks on its presence as a pledge of the welfare of his family, and would deem it a crime to violate the rights of hospitality due to his winged guest. The Mahomedans call it belarje; and consider it nearly as sacred as the ancient Egyptians did the ibis. To disturb them would be thought a profanation, much more to kill them. In ancient Thessaly it was so highly prized for its services, in clearing the country of serpents, that its destruction was forbidden under pain of death. The Moors look on it as sacrilege to kill one of these birds; and in the valley of Monkazem, in Barbary, it is reported they are more numerous than the inhabitants.

Nor is it only on account of its usefulness that the stork is thus highly esteemed by man ; much of the honour it receives, arises from its being considered emblematic of high moral qualities, of which we shall speak hereafter. It is

time we should refer more minutely to its habits. The disposition of this bird is gentle and confiding; it is easily tamed, and has been known to mingle with the sports of children, yielding itself to their playfulness, as if willing to contribute to their amusement. The stork is a most devoted parent, feeding her young for a long period, and aiding them with the tenderest care, in their first feeble attempts to fly, carrying them on her wings, and defending them in danger with the utmost courage; and when to save them is impossible, she will perish with them rather than abandon them in their extremity.

An incident which occurred in the conflagration of the city of Delft, has often been mentioned. "A stork was observed to make extraordinary efforts to carry off her helpless brood to a place of safety. Her attempts were unsuccessful; but though she had failed to rescue them from the threatened destruction, she would not desert them in their peril. She remained with them in the midst of the flames, and shared their fate, being thus consumed in the same funeral pile with her beloved family.”

In maternal tenderness, however, the storks are not unequalled by other birds; but they exceed them all in the filial affection the young evince towards their parents. We have been interested by