374 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 



ous, crenated, coriaceous, dentated, emarginated, ferruginous, fluviatile, 

 muricated, plicated, rugose, setaceous, striated, &c, when such good 

 English words as the following would have served the purpose as well : 

 ridged, horny, notched, leathery, toothed, &c, and perhaps we shall not 

 be thought less classical for preferring the English cover or lid, to the 

 Latin operculum ; the ordinary word partition, to the coined one dis- 

 sepiment ; and the monosyllable beak, to the foreign dissyllable rostrum ; 

 or for remonstrating against such a word as canaliculated, when chan- 

 nelled would have been much easier to pronounce, and quite as expres- 

 sive. The word semitransparent is generally received ; in what respects 

 is it inferior to the heterogeneous compound subdiaphanous ? — Quar- 

 terly Journal of Education. 



Nestling op the redbreast — A pair of robins chose for their 

 abode, a small cottage, which though not actually inhabited, was con- 

 stantly used as a depository for potatoes, harness, &c., and repeatedly 

 visited by its owners. It closely adjoined a large blacksmith's shop, 

 in which it may be truly said 



" That all day long with clink and bang 

 Close to their couch did hammer clang," 



and in which the usual din of such places, is considerably increased by 

 the strokes of a hammer which would have baffled the strength even of 

 " Hal of the Wynd" himself to wield, and is worked by water. But 

 neither the noise of the adjacent forge, nor the frequent visits of the 

 owners of the cottage deterred these fearless settlers. They entered 

 through a window frame, the lattice of which had been removed ; and 

 in a child's covered cart, which, with its horse attached to it, was 

 hanging on a peg over the fire-place, and just afforded space for the 

 purpose ; they built their first nest early in the spring. The circum- 

 stance was observed, and soon became an object of curiosity to the 

 neighbours, many of whom came to look at the nest ; these inquisitive 

 visits, however, had not the effect of alarming the birds, who here 

 reared without accident, their first brood. When the attention of the 

 parents was no longer needed by their full-fledged offspring, they set 

 about providing for another family, and built their second nest on a 

 shelf on the opposite side of the room close to an old mouse-trap. 

 Here again, they received visits of inquiry from bipeds of a larger 

 growth, and reared and dismissed their progeny. This second brood 

 had no sooner left them, than, as if mindful of their Creator's mandate, 



