ARBOR DA Y MANUAL. 



2/7 



BIRDS' NESTS. 



SUITABLE FOR CLASS EXERCISE BY YOUNG PUPILS. 



THE skylark's nest among the grass 

 And waving corn is found; 

 The robin's on a shady bank, 



With oak leaves strewed around. 



The wren builds in an ivied thorn 



Or old and ruined wall; 

 The mossy nest, so covered in, 



You scarce can see at all. 



The martins build their nests, of clay, 

 In rows beneath the eaves; 



While silver)- lichens, moss, and hair 

 The chaffinch interweaves. 



The cuckoo makes no nest at all, 



But through the wood she strays 



Until she find one snug and warm, 

 And there her eggs she lays. 



The sparrow has a nest of hay, 

 With feathers warmly lined; 



The ring-dove's careless nest of sticks 

 On lofty trees we find. 



Rooks build together in a wood, 



And often disagree; 

 The owl will build inside a barn 



Or in a hollow tree. 



The blackbird's nest, of grass and mud, 

 In bush and bank is found; 



The lapwing's darkly spotted eggs 

 Are laid upon the ground. 



The magpie's nest is girt with thorns 



In leafless tree or hedge; 

 The wild duck and the water-hen 



Build by the water's edge. 



Birds build their nests from year to year, 

 According to their kind, 



Some very neat and beautiful, 

 Some easily designed. 



The habits of each little bird, 



And all its patient skill, 

 Are surely taught by God Himself 



And ordered by His will. 



Written for the " ARBOR DAY MANUAL." 



'NEATH THE COTTON-WOOD TREES. 



LET one who sips life's tears with strange delight, 

 And finds in sobs and sighs life's harmony, 

 Go out beneath the cotton-wood trees at night 



And there repent the laughter of the day; 

 Then listen to the rustling of the leaves, 

 Like steady rain-fall from the homestead eaves, 

 And listening, weep and pray! 

 But on the morrow, hie away ! 

 It is not well to dwell there all the drear)' while, 

 To-night we weep and pray, to-morrow toil and smile. 

 While the cotton-woods weep, and sway 

 All the night and all the day. 



Mrs. B. C. RUDE. 

 Sodus, N. Y. 



