76 BIRDS' NESTS. 



" But I would much rather live in the sky, 

 like the lark, than stay all day long in a dark 

 hole, like the wren." 



" Yes, no doubt you would, and so would I, 

 because God has given to us a natural inclina- 

 tion to clirnb up to high places, eyes that we 

 can only use in the light, and a taste for sweet 

 sounds ; but other creatures a mole, for in- 

 stance would not be so happy among the 

 clouds as when employed in hunting for worms 

 in his underground galleries. Last summer, 

 you thought the dabchick's life must be a 

 pleasant one, because he spent the whole of his 

 time paddling about in the cool water, and 

 diving among the water-lilies. You would 

 have thought differently had the weather been 

 cold, and the river fringed with ice ; but he, 

 I doubt not, enjoyed himself equally at both 

 seasons. Either his feathers kept him warm, 

 or if the cold pierced through his velvety coat, 

 it was pleasant to him. You may see herons, 

 in the coldest weather, standing up to their 



