wind, I have seldom found them else- 

 where than among the limbs of the tall 

 maples, hickories and elms. There the} 

 spend their time, obtain their living from 

 the many insects that infest the foliage, 

 flowers and bark, and build their nests. 

 The nests I have found were usually 

 forty to sixty feet high, on top of a hori- 

 zontal limb. The male evidently ex- 

 hausted his strength in his efforts to 

 overcome rivals and to show his atten- 

 tions to his favorite. He now is not 

 able to assist in building the nest. His 

 wife does that, and he sings while she 

 works." 



This Warbler, with its seventy odd 

 relatives of the warbler family, is a great 

 destroyer of noxious insects. These tiny 

 birds, many of them of inconspicuous 

 colors, are. splendid insect destroyers 

 and they should be rigidly protected. 

 Especially should the collection of their 

 eggs be strictly prohibited, except for 

 strictly scientific purposes and even the 

 number used for this purpose should be 

 limited. If the insect hordes are to be 

 kept within safe bounds for the agri- 

 culturist, the small, insect-eating birds, 

 such as the warblers, must be protected. 

 Collins Thurber. 



MUFF. 



Not a piece of fur stuffed with wool 

 and lined with silk, but one of the most 

 interesting little black terrier dogs that 

 you could ever see. Of his early Hfe 

 little is known, as when we made his 

 acquaintance he was a tramp. 



One morning my friend noticed 

 that part of the breakfast of her 

 little niece Helen, who, with her 

 brother and sister, was spending some 

 time with her, was disappearing into 

 Helen's lap, and that the other children 

 were trying to appear very unconscious 

 of the fact. My friend wisely decided to 

 keep still, and watch the outcome of 

 the manoeuvre. 



When breakfast was finished, Helen 

 quickly disappeared by way of the kitch- 

 en door, and was promptly followed by 

 her brother and sister. After a short 

 time their aunt thought she would try 

 to discover the cause of their unusual 

 actions, and upon going into the wash 

 house, adjoining the kitchen, she found 

 all three upon their knees watching a 

 hungry little black dog eat his break- 

 fast. 



Instinctively Helen's affectionate arms 

 twined around the little fellow, and 

 looking up with her pleading eyes she 

 said, "Oh Auntie, please let me keep 

 him; T found him under the boardwalk, 

 .'1)1(1 lie was so cold and hunorv that I 



brought him in here and saved part of 

 my breakfast for him. Please let me 

 keep him." Whereupon the little fel- 

 low, as if conscious of having found a 

 friend, stuck his nose into Helen's face, 

 and kissed her with his little red 

 tongue. This made all the children 

 laugh, and was all that was needed to 

 win their aunt's approval, provided his 

 previous owners could not be found. 



By common consent, he was looked 

 upon as Helen's especial property, as 

 she had first discovered him, and now 

 it devolved upon her to find a name 

 for him. When he cuddled down in 

 her lap, she said, "Oh, he is so warm 

 and soft and smooth, just like auntie's 

 muff, that I am going to call him Muff," 

 and thus he was known from that day 

 forward. 



As no trace of his former home could 

 be found, the children soon looked upon 

 him as their very own, and took great 

 delight in the unusual intelligence of 

 their little playmate, as he was an apt 

 pupil in learning all the little tricks they 

 wished to teach him. When with eager 

 eyes lu' looked into Helen's face, she 

 would say, "O Muff, I know if you 

 could talk you would say many inter- 

 esting things, and 1 know you would 

 sav tliat you love me." With this, he 

 would hound into lu^r lap, put his little 



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