peat the lesson, but all in vain that after- 

 noon, so they finally gave up and went in 

 search of food. The next morning the 

 lessons began in earnest, and then the 

 bold little youngster, who had made so 

 many pretentions the afternoon before, 

 grew bolder and with a nervous little 

 flutter and a sidewise plunge landed on 

 a twig some few feet below the nest. 

 He rested a few moments and then, with 

 a few encouraging chirps from his par- 

 ents, tried it again with better results. 



One by one the other timid fledglings 

 were induced to follow him. There were 

 many tumbles and falls, but the little 

 mother was 'always there to encourage 

 and help, and by afternoon the little home 

 was deserted. They staid a few days in 

 the trees near by and then flew away 

 to seek new homes, and all that was 

 left to remind me of the happy family 

 was the empty nest in the leafy bough. 

 Ellen Hampton Dick. 



THE BIRD OF PEACE. 



The dove, bearing an olive branch, is, 

 in Christian art, an emblem of peace. 

 The early churches used vessels of pre- 

 cious metal fashioned in the shape of a 

 dove in which to place the holy sacra- 

 ment, no doubt because the Holy Spirit 

 descended upon Christ in the form of a 

 dove. 



Noah's dove, of still older fame, was 

 immortalized as a constellation in the 

 sky. 



The plaintive "coo" of the dove has 

 also added to the sentiment about it. 

 The poets delight to refer to it as a 

 sorrowful bird. One of them says : 



''Oft I heard the tender dove 

 In fiery woodlands making moan," 



The dove, "most musical, most mel- 

 ancholy," is the singer whom the mock- 

 ing bird does not attempt to imitate. 



There is a Philippine legend that of all 

 birds only the dove understands the hu- 

 man tongue. The pigeon tribe is noted 

 for its friendliness to man — ■ 



"Of all the feathered race 



Alone it looks unscared on the human face." 



The word dove means "diver" and 

 refers to the way this bird ducks its 

 head. 



It has purposely designed "wing whis- 

 tles" and often strikes the wings together 

 when beginning to fly. 



The broken wing dodge it often prac- 

 tices tends to prove that its ancestors 

 built on the ground. 



The nest of the dove has no architec- 

 tural beauty and it is not a good house- 

 keeper, and is something of a gad-about. 

 Indeed, doves are not so gentle in char- 

 acter as they are usually portrayed. They 

 are sometim.es impolite to each other and 

 occasionally indulge in a family "scrap." 

 But as nothing in this world is quite per- 

 fect, the dove with its fine form, and 

 beautiful quaker-like garb, may be ac- 

 cepted as one of the most interesting of 

 our birds. Belle Paxson Drury. 



1C9 



