BIRD HOMES. 



WE pity any boy who has no home ; kind people 

 give money to provide a place where he can 

 have a bed at night, a roof over his head, fire and food. 



Animals rarely have homes, and yet no one pities 

 them. They have their hair, fur, or shell covering to 

 keep off rain ; they sleep on the ground without 

 catching cold, so that they really have no need of a 

 home such as we are accustomed to. 



Certain animals, as you probably are already think- 

 ing, do have caves, dens, or burrows in which they 

 spend the night, the cold or wet weather, or to which 

 they flee for safety. Most of these animals, you will 

 see, are intelligent ; in fact, the more wisdom the 

 animal has learned in Nature's great school, the more 

 likely he is to have a place which is his own. 



Birds, you will say, are intelligent, and yet they 

 spend the night or rainy weather in thick trees and 

 have no homes. 



This is true of most of them, during most of their 

 lives, and from what you know of feathers, you can 

 yourselves tell why they do not need roofs or warmth. 

 But imagine a bird without feathers. He would need 

 warmth and shelter surely. Then think when it is 



