liar shapes which are best adapted to 

 them. I suppose the influences that 

 determine the character of nests are pro- 

 tection, locahty, temperament, structure, 

 habits and instinct." 



''And the classes of nests may be said 

 to be pensile, attached on one side, sup- 

 ported from beneath or excavated," 

 said John. "The pensile are most won- 

 derful. I saw one with a thread of hair 

 or grass passed through over thirty times. 

 The thrushes use plastering to line 

 their nests ; the finches upholster with 

 hair or fine fiber, and the tits and wrens 

 use fur and feathers." 



"Now, John," cried the girls, "you 

 have been 'reading up' or you could never 

 have made that long speech." 



"No, indeed ! Auntie is my book in 

 vacation, but I am trying to learn to 

 observe." 



"I have observed," said Howard, "that 

 cliff swallows make gourd-shaped nests 

 out oi little pellets of earth. And there 

 is a kind of grebe that makes a nest that 

 will float." 



"None of the nests are more wonder- 

 ful than the eggs that are in them," said 

 Edith. "Isn't it queer that nearly always 

 the eggs laid in tree holes are white, 

 because, I suppose, as they are not easily 

 seen, protective coloring is at a dis- 

 count." 



"Some one has said," observed Aunt 

 Jane, "that an egg is the most perfect 

 thing in the world. Indeed, what magic 



is equal to the turning of the contents of 

 an tgg shell into bones, blood, feathers, 

 fiesh, claw and all that goes to form a 

 bird?" 



"Do continue and describe an egg to 

 us," Alice requested. 



"You all know that the shell is filled 

 with minute holes which let in the air. 

 Inside the shell there is a double mem- 

 brane. At the large end of the egg this 

 double skin is separated to form a bubble 

 which is filled with air which is said to 

 be mostly oxygen gas. This is for the 

 use of the bird before it breaks the shell. 

 Next comes the 'white' and within it the 

 'yellow.' In order tO' keep this yolk in the 

 center so it will not break, a little of the 

 white is twisted into a sort of rope and 

 fastened to the inside of the shell by one 

 end and by the other to the yolk, so as to 

 give and take with every position of the 

 egg and keep the yolk in place." 



"Dear me !" said Edith, "I've often 

 noticed that little rope in the white of an 

 egg, but I never dreamed what it was 

 for." 



"The beautiful shapes and colors, and 

 varied markings of birds' eggs make a 

 collection of them of the greatest inter- 

 est. Some day I will take you to see the 

 eggs of the birds of Illinois at the State 

 House in Springfield." 



"Won't that be jolly!" cried the boys 

 in a chorus, while the girls vainly rapped 

 for order. 



Belle Paxson Drury. 



THE ROBIN. 



Yes, there he sits in the top of the tree. 

 The sam.e dun breast, and the dusky wing. 

 The self-same Robin come back to see 

 If daffodils blossom, and crocuses spring. 



And now will the gay little grasses rise, 

 The clouds will scatter their April rain ; 

 The gray old branches will bud and bloom 

 For the self-same Robin, come back again. 



— Carolyn F. Hailey. 



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