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as though it were a returning truant boy. Peter was 

 beside himself with joy at the meeting, and tried his 

 best to express his affection for his friend. It seemed 

 too bad that he was not fully able to tell his adventures 

 and the cause of his absence, but these, through other 

 sources, were learned afterwards. During that Decem- 

 ber snow storm, Peter was bloAvn to the ground at Clar- 

 ence, several miles from his home. A boy caught him, 

 and not knowing to whom he belonged, clipped short 

 his wings to prevent his flying off. The poor, homesick 

 bird could not walk through the deep snow, neither 

 could he fly, so he waited patiently through the winter 

 till the ground was bare, and then started afoot on his 

 journey. How he found his unknown way so many miles 

 through fields and woods and across roads will remain 

 a mystery. Although again able to fly, he will not ven- 

 ture off the premises, but attaches himself more closely 

 than ever to his old friend. 



While waiting at the station, on the return to the city, 

 my attention was called to some curious work of a pair 

 of robins, showing that man is- not the only animal that 

 makes mistakes. The railroad water tank is a large one 

 and elevated. It rests on a platform supported by a 

 dozen joists, which rest on larger beams, leaving eleven 

 spaces. A pair of robins commenced a nest in one of 

 these, but had not proceeded far with the work when 

 they doubtless became confused with the resemblance of 

 the spaces and started another nest in the next place ; 

 then another, and another, until each space was occu- 

 pied with a nest or a part of one. The birds worked 



