A ME 'A DO W MUD-HOLE. 



147 



second or third scolding, open war is declared 

 on the spot, followed too often by a wreck of all 

 their hopes. 



A word more, If people, young or old, 

 would get a correct knowledge of a wild bird's 

 ways, would know what is meant by animal intel- 

 ligence, let them study a pair of nest-building 

 birds while they are at work. Let them draw 

 near, but not too near, and see how carefully the 

 work progresses, how skillfully many a difficulty 

 is overcome, how completely the finished struct- 

 ure meets all requirements. Do this, but do 

 nothing more. Refrain from disturbing the 

 timid builders ; abstain from robbing them 

 when their work is done. By gentleness prove 

 yourselves the friends of birds, and they will re- 

 turn your kindness with a measure heaped up 

 and overflowing. 



iftub-ljole. 



THE least suggestive spot in the world to 

 most people is a mud-hole. The common im- 

 pression seems to be that fish avoid it, that frogs 

 and birds pass it by, and plants decline to cover 

 its nakedness. This, like a great many other 

 common impressions, is really very wide of the 



