GO BERTHA'S VISIT TO HER 



" There was another circumstance in your 

 question, Bertha, on which I must set you 

 right. It is true that glass has been brought to 

 great perfection by modern skill, but glass was 

 known in the earliest ages of which any remains 

 of art are now extant. The mummies, for in- 

 stance, which have been brought home from 

 Egypt, are ornamented with beads and bits of 

 coloured glass. Pliny describes the manner of 

 making it ; and there are various authorities for 

 believing that glass was even used in windows 

 before the third century. 



. The nightingale, the next bird that 

 appears after the swallow, has arrived, and I 

 have twice had the pleasure of hearing the 

 sweetness, fulness, and power of its melody. 



It is supposed to visit Asia during its absence 

 from England, as it does not winter in the south 

 of Europe or in Africa, but is found at all times 

 in the East, from Persia to Japan. I must ac- 

 knowledge that its song is more agreeable than 

 that of the bird we call nightingale in Brazil. 



The wry-neck, and the cuckoo, which I havejust 

 heard, arrive here very soon after the nightingale. 

 The wry-neck is a very pretty little bird ; the 

 neck and breast are of a reddish brown, and 

 crossed with waving bars of fine black. It sits 

 so very erect on a branch, that its body appears 

 to bend almost backward, while it is constantly 



