a gay, easy life, but I desire birdhood no 

 longer if that is a specimen of how 

 birds have to work to support a family ! 

 The thrush that wears a gold crown on 

 her head is the worst bird to pretend 

 she is lame, in order to lead one away 

 from her nest. It is a sight well worth 

 seeing. The nest is on the ground and 

 has a canopy over it. I have heard Aunt 

 Jane say that there are as many as one 

 hundred and fifty different kinds of 

 thrushes, but of them all I'd rather see 

 the hermit thrush, which is called the 

 'swamp angel,' because his song is so 

 sweet and solemn, far more beautiful 

 than that of even the wood thrush." 



"Oh, Howard,'" cried Johnnie, "don't 

 join in with the girls in always rating 

 something as 'sweet and solemn.' I'd 

 rather see one whistling swan than all 

 your hundred kinds of thrushes. I was 

 reading an account of the whistling- 

 swan the other day. and I found out 

 how curious he is. His wind-pipe falls 

 into the chest, then turns back like a 

 trumpet, and afterwards makes a second 

 bend to join the lungs, and by means of 

 this curious construction of the wind- 

 pipe he can make a loud, shrill note of 

 Whoogh ! Whoogh !" 



"Aunt Jane," cried Madge, "do you 

 know who Mother Carev is? Please 

 tell us about her chickens." 



"Mother Carey's history is legendary, 

 but it is supposed Carey comes from the 

 Latin word cara. The dear mother is 

 the Virgin Mary. Ignorant seamen hold 

 her bird in great veneration, because thev 

 think she sends it to them to foretell a 

 storm. Mother Carey's chicken is the 

 'Stormy petrel.' Petrel means 'Little 

 Peter.' You know the Peter of Bible 

 history walked upon the waves. This 

 bird follows vessels, hovering on wing, 

 with its web feet just touching the crest 

 of the wave, so it looks precisely as if it 

 were walking on the water, hence its 

 name of 'Little Peter.' It is the smallest 

 of all the web-footed birds, is quite 

 black, except a few white feathers on the 

 wings and near the tail." 



"Other birds have been held in venera- 

 tion haven't they?" Alice inquired. 



"Yes. the owl of Minerva, Juno's pea- 

 cock and the sacred ibis of the Egyptians. 



It is thought the ibis was so highly prized 

 on account of its snake killing ability, or 

 else, as it was always present at the 

 overflow of the Nile, that it had some- 

 thing to do with the fertility of the land. 

 The body of the ibis was often em- 

 balmed, yet it is a ver}- greedy, stupid 

 bird. It will eat all it possibly can, and 

 then stand waiting for the m.eal to di- 

 gest, in order to eat another one forth- 

 with." 



"Stupid ! I should say it was stupid," 

 said Howard, "to stand still after eating. 

 When we boys have demolished a lot 

 of mother's doughnuts, we play base ball, 

 and in almost less than no time we are 

 ready for more." 



"Then, Howard, vou have forgotten 

 your physiology ! The bird is wiser than 

 you are with all your school books. 

 Food digests faster when you keep still 

 for a while after eating," Alice re- 

 marked, glad of a chance to correct 

 Howard. 



"Well, I don't care to get so wise as 

 to be in danger -of having to be em- 

 balmed, and in spite of all the iliises of 

 Egypt, I know that running does make 

 a fellow hungry," Howard retorted. 



"Why was the owl sacred to Min- 

 erva?" inquired John. 



"Two reasons are assigned. One Uiat 

 Minerva was regarded as the moon, and 

 so the noctural owl. whose large eyes 

 see so well in the dark, was an appro- 

 priate emblem. The other reason is that, 

 she was the Goddess of Wisdom, and 

 the owl, on account of the peculiar shape 

 of his head, is thought to look very wise. 

 The owl was an awesome bird to the 

 ancient Egvptians, for the King had a 

 custom, whenever the death of a person 

 was decided upon, to send such person 

 the image of an owl, whereupon the un- 

 fortunate one was expected to kill him- 

 self at once. No wonder the bird became 

 one of ill-omen about which gathered 

 many superstitious fancies," 



"I want to know," said Madge, "why 

 the peacock is Juno's bird? I have seen 

 pictures where peacocks were drawing 

 her chariot for her." 



Aunt Jane replied : — "The peacock 

 was consecrated to Juno because she 

 represented the lower atmosphere, 



