to be universally known. The habits of all are much alike, as all of them dig into trees with their strong bills, and strip off the bark to find the worms and insects concealed beneath. The allied3 family of the creepers includes the nuthatches and those familiar little birds, the wrens.

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3. Alexander Wilson, the ornithologist, gives a curious account of a pair of wrens which had built in a box by his bedroom window. The nest had been completed, and two eggs had been laid, when, the window and door of the room having been left open, the female wren entered to reconnoiter; and, venturing too far, was sprung upon by the cat and destroyed.

4. "Curious," he adds, "to see how the widowed survivor would behave on the tragical occasion, I watched him carefully for several days. At first he sung with great vivacity for an hour or so, but, becoming uneasy, he went off for half an hour. On his return he chanted as before, and went to the top of the house, stable, and weeping-willow, that his lost mate might hear. But as he could neither see nor hear any thing of her, he returned again to visit the nest, ventured cautiously in at the window, and gazed about with suspicious looks, sinking his voice to a low, melancholy note as he stretched his little neck about in every direction.

5. "Returning to the box, he seemed, for some minutes, at a loss what to do, and then went off, as I supposed, altogether, for I saw him no more that day. Toward the afternoon of the second day, however, he again made his appearance, accompanied by a female wren, which seemed exceedingly timorous and shy; but, after some hesitation, she entered the box.

6. "At this moment the little widower, or bridegroom, seemed as though he would warble out his very life in an ecstasy of joy. After remaining in about half a minute, they both flew off, but returned in a few minutes, and instantly began to carry out the eggs, the feathers, and some of the sticks, supplying the place of the latter two with materials of the same sort. They ultimately succeeded in raising a brood of seven young, all of which escaped in safety."

7. Many poets have sung of the gallant attention of the

male wren to his mate during the period of incubation. We quote the following:

"Within thy warm and mossy cell,

Where scarce 'twould seem thyself could dwell,
Twice eight, a speckled brood, we tell,

Nestling beneath thy wing;

And still unwearied, many a day,

Thy little partner loves to stay,

Perch'd on some trembling timber spray,"

Beside his mate to sing."-WOOD.

8. And to the same purpose, Wordsworth, in his wellknown lines "On a Wren's Nest," beautifully says,

"There to the breeding bird, her mate

Warbles by fits his low, clear song,

And by the busy streamlet both

Are sung to all day long."

9. The toucans, which are all natives of tropical America, are an interesting family of large forest birds, clothed with brilliant plumage. They are easily recognized by the great size of the beak, which, in some of the species, is nearly as large and as long as the body itself; and yet it is rendered remarkably light by its honey-comb structure. The toucan takes great care of its bill, packing it away carefully in the feathers of its back before sleeping.

10. The cuckoos are a small family of half-perching and half-climbing birds. Of the few that are found in northern climes, the common European cuckoo has ever been regarded with great interest, as its melodious but rather mournful note in early spring, heralding 10 the return of sunny skies and bursting vegetation, carries with it dear associations in every country where it is known.

11. And yet the reputation of this bird is bad; for it makes no nests of its own, but steals into the nests of other birds, and leaves to them the whole care of its eggs and its young. Nor is this all. The young cuckoo has the remarkable faculty of getting rid of its companions in the nest by creeping under them and throwing them out, by which means it secures to itself all the attention and care of its foster-parent.11 The American yellow-billed cuckoo, we are happy to say, is a much more honorable bird than its European cousin, as it

builds its own nests, hatches its own eggs, and rears its own

1. THE parrots, which belong to the class of climbing birds, are remarkable for their gay, varied, and, in many instances, splendid plumage; their hooked and powerful bill; their thick, fleshy tongue; their intelligence and docility;1 and the peculiar facility2 with which many of them learn to imitate the human voice. The numerous members of this family are grouped under several divisions, such as parrakeets, macaws, the parrots proper, the cockatoos, and the lories.

2. The parrots are of nearly all colors, red, yellow, green,

blue, and scarlet. The crested cockatoo is nearly white, with a crest of bright yellow. The Papuan lory, a bird of graceful form and motions, is particularly noted for its scarlet plumes, which flash with exceeding brilliancy when the sunlight strikes upon them in the depth of its native forests. "There, through the trunks, with moss and lichens3 white, The sunshine darts its interrupted light,

And 'mid the cedar's darksome boughs illumes,*

With instant touch, the lory's scarlet plumes."-Bowles.

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3. The parrots are mostly birds of warm climates; and in their native wilds, when climbing among the trees and hanging from the branches in every possible attitude, their movements are marked by an ease and grace of motion that we can never see exhibited in a state of confinement. Of one hundred and seventy of the parrot family that have been described, only one species is a native of the United States. Many interesting incidents illustrating the character and habits of these birds might be related. The following, by the poet Campbell, is believed to be a true story:

9.

"He hailed the bird in Spanish speech,

The bird in Spanish speech replied,

Flapped round the cage with joyous screech,
Dropped down-and died."

CAMPBELL.

1 Do-CIL'-I-TY, teachableness; readiness to 6 MUL'-LA, here used for Ireland.

learn.

2 FA-CIL'-I-TY, ease; readiness.

3 LI'-CHEN (-ken), a plant; rock-moss. 4 IL-LUMES', lights up.

• ĂT-TI-TŪDE, position.

7 WON, obtained.

8 RE-SPLEN'-DENT, brilliant; shining.

9 HEATH'-ER-Y (heth'-er-y), abounding with the plant called heath or heather.

THE CUCKOO AND THE SWALLOW.

1. ONE morn a cuckoo thus attacked betimes
A swallow lately come from warmer climes:
"Ah'! Madam Catchfly'!" once again,
I see, by toil unawed',

Your ladyship has cross'd the Main'!
How fare all friends abroad' ?b

2. "How goes the world' ? come', tell' the news';
A little news is pleasant':

How do the folks in Turkey use
To speak of birds at present' ?