72 Flashlkjuts o\ X.\rrK'K 



face witli tliat hateful hoard, a Initclicr iMid's 

 larder. 



For what the eat does with the mouse for a 

 few short tnoineiits, that the buteher-bird does 

 with it throuj^li Ioiil^ liiiLjeriii!^ days and iiij^hts 

 of aj^oiiy. lie impales his mouse alive oil the 

 stout thoru of soiue may-bush, aud keeps it there, 

 niaiuied but stru^i^liii^, oi- slowly dyiuLi, for a 

 week at a tiuie, uutil he Ikin need for it as food 

 for himself or his faiuilv. 



A clever artist devised a cover for oue of our 

 popular scieutilic papers uiany years a<4o, which 

 enforces well the universality of this ceaseless 

 struj^j^le of kind against kind, each wholly regard- 

 less of the other's feelinj^s. In the centre fore- 

 j^round, a lly flits airily over the surface of a 

 river, searchinj^ for its mate in the full joy of 

 existence. Beneath, a small lish jumps up at the 

 lly, and seems in the veiy act of sei/inj^ and 

 swallowinj^ it. Hehind and below, however, a 

 pike lies grimly in wait for the small lish with 

 open mouth ; but he is anticipated by a king- 

 fisher, which snatches it from his jaws before 

 they can close over it. In the background above, 

 a hawk poises ilself on even win^s, ready to 

 swoop down in triumph at last on the successful 

 kingfisher. There you have the epic of animal 

 life in brief ; you have only to throw in an 

 auL^ler on the bank, fishiniL:; for the pike with a 

 live-bait of mimiow, and an enthusiastic ornitho- 

 logist pointing his fowling-piece at the rare species 

 of hawk, in oiiler tt) complete the whole cycle 



