SECOND GRADE WINTER WORK 105 



LESSON XXVII 

 ANIMAL LANGUAGE 



Do you ne'er think what wondrous beings these ? 

 Do you ne'er think who made them, and who taught 

 The dialect they speak, where melodies 

 Alone are the interpreters of thought? 

 Sweeter than instrument of man e'er caught ? 

 Whose habitations in the tree-tops even 

 Are halfway houses on the road to heaven? 



Think, every morning when the sun peeps through 

 The dim, leaf-latticed windows of the grove, 

 How jubilant the happy birds renew 

 Their old melodious madrigals of love ! 

 And when you think of this, remember too 

 'Tis always morning somewhere, and above 

 The awakening continents from shore to shore, 

 Somewhere the birds are singing evermore. 



LONGFELLOW. 



Describe the singing and chirping of different birds : the 

 blackbird, robin, meadow lark, oriole, crow, canary, etc. 

 What time of the year do they sing most? least? Why? 

 Discuss the calls to mates, the cry of alarm, the chuckle of 

 satisfaction, the scream of terror, as well as the song of joy, 

 and the service of these sounds to the birds using them. 



In like manner discuss the bark of the dog, the neigh of 

 the horse, the howl of the wolf, the bellowing of the cow, the 

 bleat of the lamb, and other sounds made by animals. Note 

 the circumstances under which they are made, the object of 

 making them, the intelligence manifested, etc. 



Do animals talk or communicate thoughts?. Tell stories 

 and anecdotes to illustrate this. Encourage observation and 

 the recital of personal experiences in this connection. 



