ORES. 



NICKEL is a silver-white, ductile 

 metal, discovered by Cronstedt 

 in 1751. It is closely allied to 

 iron and cobalt, and is associated 

 with many ores. Nickel, according 

 to Deville, is more tenacious than 

 iron. It is magnetic at ordinary 

 temperatures. Many of the copper 

 coins of the European continent and 

 the United States are alloys contain- 

 ing various proportions of nickel. 

 Nickel-plating has become an industry 

 of great importance in the United 

 States. It is used for magnetic needles, 

 for philosophical and surgical instru- 

 ments, and in watch movements. 



Spathic Iron Ore. — Carbonate of 

 iron, when found in a comparatively 

 pure and crystallized state, is known as 

 spathic or sparry. In its purest form 

 it contains 48 per cent, of iron. The 

 ore is found near Hudson, N. Y., and 

 in Tuscarawas county, Ohio. 



Copper. — Copper is one of the most 

 anciently known metals, and its name 

 is derived from the island of Cyprus, 

 where it was first obtained by the 



Greeks. In the earlier times it does 

 not appear to have been employed by 

 itself, but always in admixture with 

 other metals, principally tin, forming 

 bronze. Great masses of native copper 

 have been found both in North and 

 South America. 



Tin. — Tin is a beautiful silver-white 

 metal, with a tinge of yellow. There 

 was no tin produced in the United 

 States in 1896. The tin-producing 

 countries are Malacca, Banca, Bolivia, 

 Australia, and Cornwall. 



Zinc. — A metal of a brilliant white 

 color, with a shade of blue, and appear- 

 ing as if composed of plates adhering 

 together. It is not brittle, but less 

 malleable than copper, lead, or tin; 

 when heated, however, it is malleable, 

 and may be rolled into plates. 



Lead. — A metal of a dull white 

 color, with a cast of blue. It is soft 

 and easily fusible. It is found native 

 in small masses, but generally miner- 

 alized by sulphur and sometimes by 

 other substances. It is the least elas- 

 tic and sonorous of all the metals. 



YOUNG WILD BIRDS. 



THE thickness of the foliage on 

 the trees, the high vegetation 

 of the cultivated land, and the 

 natural tendency of young birds 

 to keep quiet and still, make the study 

 of them a matter of some difficulty. 

 In the hedgerows and by the wood- 

 sides unfamiliar notes and calls of birds 

 are constantly heard — the notes of 

 young birds, which cannot be identified 

 owing to the thickness of the foliage, 

 and though in the large woods the cry 

 of the young sparrow hawks and the 

 flight of the pigeons and woodpeckers 

 betray their presence, it is almost im- 

 possible to watch them, or to ascertain 

 their way of procuring food. Probably 

 most of the larger species are fed by 

 the old birds long after they leave the 

 nest. 



Of game birds, young partridges are 

 the most self-reliant, and young pheas- 



ants the least able to take care of them- 

 selves. The present writer has never 

 seen young quails, but as those coveys 

 which are hatched in England often 

 number as many birds as the quail 

 usually lay eggs, it may be presumed 

 that these, the smallest of all the game 

 birds, are not less active and precocious 

 than the young of the partridge. The 

 latter are almost as active upon land as 

 young wild ducks are upon the water. 

 They run swiftl)' and without hesitation, 

 even among thick vegetation, when 

 they are no bigger than a wren, and 

 follow or precede their mother through 

 mowing grass, hedgerows, or the sides 

 of furze breaks and copses, seeking and 

 catching insects all the while, and 

 neither losing themselves nor betray- 

 ing their whereabouts by unnecessary 

 noise or excursions. 



