THE ROBIN AND THE MIRROR. 



Yesterday I noticed from my window a pair of robins 

 paying many visits to a maple tree at the edge of the 

 lawn. Much time was spent in flitting to and fro, but 

 there seemed to be no settled plan between the pair 

 whether to build in the upper or lower branches, and no 

 foundation was laid. 



To-day the male bird made his appearance without 

 his mate, and he seemed restless and uneasy. 



Now it happened that an accident had broken the' 

 glass in front of the Wardian case appropriated to my 

 ferns, and the servant had lifted it on the grass plot for 

 a new light to be put in. The back of the case had been 

 fitted with a plate of looking-glass, and as Master Robin 

 flitted past he saw his own image in the glass and 

 instantly flew to it, evidently with joy, thinking he 

 recognized his absent and, I fear, faithless mate. Ruffling 

 his feathers, spreading his wings, and pecking at the 

 glass as if to invite her in the most loving manner to his 



