Part 13

7. This parrot laughed in such a hearty way that for your life you could not help joining with her, and then she would cry out, "Don't make me laugh! I shall die! I shall die!"

8. Next she will cry; and if you say, "Poor Poll, what is the matter?" she says, "So bad! so bad! Got a bad cold!" After crying some time, she grows more quiet, makes a noise like drawing a long breath, and says, "Better now," and then begins to laugh.

9. If any one vexes her, she begins to cry; if pleased, she laughs. If she hears any one cough or sneeze, she says, "What a bad cold!"

10. Here is a story which a boy tells of a parrot: "Poll was a great friend of mine, and had been in the house ever since I could remember.

11. "Offy was a pug-dog, so fat that a little way off he looked like a muff to which some one had tied a tail. I hated Offy, for he was always barking at me, and I think he knew I was afraid of him. Poll hated Offy, too, and with good reason.

12. "The pug was always sneaking round, and stealing the cake which Poll had laid aside for her supper. Poll missed her cake and was furious, but the dog licked his chops and laughed.

13. "One day Poll hid herself on the top of the cupboard and watched. Offy came as usual to steal her cake, when she pounced on his back and gave him such a drubbing that he never stole any more from her."

LESSON XXI.

BIRDS OF PREY.

1. Sometimes we see a bird come sweeping down into the farm-yard and seize a chicken and fly away with it, and sometimes we see the same bird pounce down upon a robin, a wren, or a dove, and carry it off.

2. This robber is the hawk. Another robber, larger and stronger than the hawk, is the eagle, which we see on the opposite page. Let us look at them.

3. They are covered with mottled black and white feathers, which make them look gray. In some kinds of hawks, the breast is nearly white.

4. They have very strong wings, and can fly far and fast without being tired. The beak is short, strong, and pointed, and hooked at the end. It is made so that it can easily tear flesh from the bones of animals.

5. The claws, or talons, are strong, sharp, and hooked, and the leg above is short and strong.

6. The hawk preys upon chickens, the smaller birds, squirrels, and other small animals. The eagle will carry off hens, turkeys, rabbits, lambs, and the like. They have been known to carry off a baby.

7. The hawk and the eagle seize their prey, not with their beaks, but with their talons. They drive their long, sharp nails into the flesh, and the chicken or rabbit is dead in a few minutes.

8. They carry their prey to their nests, and there they hold it in their talons, and, with their beaks, tear off the flesh, which they eat, and feed to their young.

9. Both the hawk and the eagle have sharp eyes, and they can see a long distance. If we should see an eagle in a cage, we would find that its eyes are bright and a deep yellow in color; but they look wild and cruel, and we do not like to go very near it.

10. The fish-hawk preys upon fish. He sails slowly over the water until his sharp eyes see a fish, and then he dives down so straight and swift that he rarely misses.

11. Sometimes, when he comes up from the water, an old eagle that has been on the watch pounces upon him. The hawk tries to get away, but the eagle soon overtakes him.

12. With an angry scream the hawk drops the fish, and the eagle swoops downward so quickly that he catches the fish before it reaches the water. With his prey in his talons, he then soars away to his nest in the tree-tops, or high up among the rocks on the mountain-side.

LESSON XXII.

LONG LEGS WITH FEATHERS.

1. We have here the picture of a heron, a very curious bird. It has long legs, a large body, a long neck, and a long pointed bill.

2. Its toes are long and pointed, and when spread out they cover a large space. It can turn its neck and bill so that sometimes it looks as if it would wring its own neck off.

3. The heron lives on frogs and fish. With its long legs it can wade out in the shallow water, and its toes spread out so it does not sink in the mud.

4. When ready for breakfast, it wades in where the water is half-leg deep. Then it stands so still that the fish, the frogs, and the water-rats will swim all about its legs.

5. All at once, as quick as a flash, down plunges the beak, and up comes a frog from the water, and down it goes, whole, into the long throat. Another comes along, and goes the same way.