Part 9

One of the brothers Stuart gives, in "Lays of the Deer Forest," a graphic account of the performance. He says, "As the nests are laid on dry ground, and often at a distance from moisture, in the latter case, as soon as the young are hatched, the old bird will sometimes carry them in her claws to the nearest spring or green strip. In the same manner, when in danger, she will rescue those which she can lift; of this we have frequent opportunities for observation in Tarnaway. Various times when the hounds, in beating the ground, have come upon a brood, we have seen the old bird rise with the young one in her claws and carry it fifty or a hundred yards away."

THE SKY-LARK

Has any one ever told you that they were "happy as a lark," and have you stopped to think how happy a lark is?--its joyous flight up into the sky, as high or higher than the sight of man can reach, singing louder and louder, and more and more gayly the higher it ascends? When the sweet hay-time comes on, and mowers are busy in the fields with their great scythes, it is sometimes a dangerous season for larks, who make their nests on the ground. Often the poor little nests must suffer; but only think how ingenious their owners are if they do. A mower once cut off the upper part of a lark's nest. The lark sitting in it was uninjured. The man was very sorry for what he had done; but there was no help for it--at least so he thought. The lark knew better, and soon afterward a beautiful dome was found made of grass over the nest by the patient, brave bird.

THE BAT.

CARRION BEETLES.

THE SPIDER.]

THE HORSE.

THE MULE.

THE ARABIAN HORSE.]

THE STORY OF A SEAL.

Some years ago a German Artist was travelling in Norway, on foot, with his knapsack on his back and his stick in his hand. He lodged most of time in the cottages that he fell in with on his road. In one of them there was a seal, which the fisherman had found on the sand, after harpooning the mother of the poor animal. No sooner was it admitted into the cottage than the seal became the friend of the family and the playmate of the children. It played from morning till night with them, would lick their hands, and call them with a gentle little cry, which is not unlike the human voice, and it would look at them tenderly with its large blue eyes, shaded by long black lashes. It almost always followed its master to fish, swimming around the boat and taking a great many fish, which it delivered to the fisherman without even giving them a bite. A dog could not have been more devoted, faithful, teachable, or even more intelligent.

THE KING OF THE MOUNTAINS.

"What is that, mother?" "The eagle, boy, Proudly careering his course with joy, Firm on his own mountain vigor relying, Breasting the dark storm, the red bolt defying; His wing on the wind, and his eye on the sun, He swerves not a hair, but bears onward, right on. Close to the sun in lonely lands, Ringed with the azure world he stands; The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls, He watches from his mountain walls. Boy, may the eagle's flight ever be thine, Onward and upward, and true to the line."

THE BEE.

Oh! busy bee, On wing so free, Yet all in order true; Each seems to know, Both where to go, And what it has to do.

'Mid summer heat, The honey sweet, It gathers while it may; In tiny drops, And never stops To waste its time in play.

I hear it come, I know its hum; It flies from flower to flower; And to its store, A little more It adds, each day and hour.

V--THE VULTURE.

On rugged rods the Vulture waits To scent its carrion prey, When down, into the plains below It takes its rapid way.

W--THE WOLF.

Fierce is the wolf, and crafty too, And swift of foot is he; In forest depths and mountain glens He loves to wander free.

X--THE XEMA.

In far-off lands, 'neath northern skies, And on the surfy shore, Lives the lone Xema, and delights In ocean's thunder roar.

MOTHER AND PUPS.

The dog that you see here looking quite maternal with her family around her, is the sheep dog, the shepherd's faithful and invaluable friend. It is the most sagacious and intelligent of all dogs, and volumes of anecdotes might be written of its intelligence and affection.

Mr. St. John, in his "Highland Sports," tells the following: "A shepherd once, to prove the quickness of his dog, who was lying before the fire where we were talking, said to me in the middle of a sentence concerning something else, 'I'm thinking, sir, the cow is in the potatoes;' when the dog, who appeared to be asleep, immediately jumped up, and leaping through the open window and on to the roof of the house, where he could get a view of the potato field, and not seeing the cow there, he looked into the farm-yard, where she was, and finding that all was right, returned to his old position before the fire."

THE FRIENDLY TERNS.

One day Mr. Edward, the Scotch naturalist shot at a Tern, hoping to secure the beautiful creature as a specimen. The ball broke the bird's wing, and he fell screaming down to the water. His cries brought other terns to the rescue, and with pitiful screams they flew to the spot where the naturalist stood, while the tide drifted their wounded brother toward the shore. But before Mr. Edward could secure his prize, he observed, to his astonishment, that two of the terns had flown down to the water, and were gently lifting up their suffering companion, one taking hold of either wing. But their burden was rather heavy; so, after carrying it seaward about six or seven yards, they let it down, and two more came, picked it up, and carried it a little farther. By means of thus relieving each other they managed to reach a rock where they concluded they would be safe.