144 
OUR HOME BIRDS. 
It was not long before they gathered around her, 
Malcolm and Flip last ; and Miss Harson began by 
showing them, a picture in the book she held. It was 
a very harrowing picture indeed — a bird’s nest look- 
ing so pretty and picturesque in quite a little bower 
of leaves, but all around the stem on which it rested 
a thick ugly snake had wound himself, while his 
head, with its wide-open, wicked-looking mouth, 
hung directly over the nest, in which were two eggs 
quite visible — perhaps he had eaten the rest — while 
two frightened-looking birds were perched on the 
edge of the nest, trying to defend their home and 
little ones. 
“ Oh !” exclaimed Clara, “ isn’t that dreadful ? Will 
he eat them up, Miss. Harson ?” 
“ No, dear, not the parents,” was the reply ; “ but 
he is a dreadfully voracious creature, this black snake, 
where birds and eggs are concerned, and one of the 
worst enemies the poor cat-bird has. There is a story 
connected with the picture, which I will give you when 
we come to it ; but first we will study the bird a little. 
We shall soon discover that Edie’s mistake about the 
kitten was a very natural one. — Hear this, Malcolm : 
“ ‘ In spring or autumn, on approaching thickets 
of brambles, the first salutation you receive is from 
the cat-bird ; and a stranger unacquainted with his 
note would instantly conclude that some vagrant or- 
