EARLY RECOLLECTIONS OF NATURAL OBJECTS. 



In the inanimate world the things 

 which most strongly impressed me were 

 the many beautiful scenes of the winter 

 season, such as the graceful drooping of 

 the evergreens after a heavy snow fall ; 

 the thousands of domed, draped and 

 capped objects at this time; the many 

 beautiful designs of ferns, grasses, wheat 

 sheaves, coral branches, etc., formed by 

 the frost upon our windows, and the un- 

 matchable splendor of the trees and other 

 objects after receiving a coating of ice 

 during a sleet stornL The lovely display 

 of blossoms in the spring time, and the 

 crimson leaves of autumn, also called 

 forth expressions of joy and pleasure. 



Among flowers, tjie wild blue violet 

 is the first blossom that I remember hav- 

 ing found and gathered. They were 

 plentiful in the woods, meadows and 

 roadsides, and we always kept one or 

 more bunches of these and other wild 

 flowers in the house during the spring 



season. Next to the blue violet, the dog- 

 tooth violet, buttercups, spring beauties, 

 dandelions and daisies follow in memo- 

 ry's train. 



My mother always accompanied me on 

 my first little rambles, and many are the 

 pleasant strolls we took, hand in hand, 

 gathering flowers, listening to the songs 

 of birds and enjoying the beautiful sur- 

 roundings ; her training and instruction 

 in Nature's book doubtless laid the foun- 

 dation of my devotion to and study of 

 these things in later years. Did she not 

 call my attention to the gorgeous sun- 

 sets, to the bow of promise spanning 

 the sky, to the squirrels and other little 

 animals of the woods, to the rippling 

 brook splashing over its pebbles and 

 golden sands ; did she not teach me to 

 love God's creatures and not kill or de- 

 stroy them ? Happy days never to be for- 

 gotten ; little friendships never broken. 

 Berton Mercer. 



TWO STRANGE HOMES. 



The little brown wren is a bird with 

 which most of us are familiar, as it is 

 one of our most common birds. It builds 

 its nest in all sorts of odd places, ven- 

 turing about barns, outhouses, or even 

 the homes of men. 



One summer a ball of twine left over 

 from the liarvesting was placed upon a 

 shelf in our tool-house. The next spring 

 a pair of tiny wrens discovered it and 

 selected it as a suita1-)le nesting place. 

 Thev ])nih llie coziest and softest of 



homes in the hole in the center of the 

 big ball and several eggs were laid be- 

 fore we discovered it. It was then left 

 to the birds who had taken possession 

 of it and they were allowed to raise their 

 family there in peace. 



At another time a jxair of wrens built 

 their nest in the sleeve of an old coat 

 which had been left hanging in a shed 

 and they made what, at least to them, 

 was cjuite a palatial abcnle in that which 

 superior man had deemed unfit for use. 

 ^[.\KV "McCrai-: Cri.Ti:R. 



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