LESSON XIX.

THE ENGLISH SKYLARK.

1. BIRD of the wilderness,
Blithesome1 and cumberless,2

Sweet be thy matin3 o'er moorland1 and lea!5
Emblem of happiness,

Blest is thy dwelling-place

O, to abide in the desert with thee!

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2. Wild is thy lay, and loud,
Far in the downy cloud,

Love gives it energy, love gave it birth,
Where on thy dewy wing-
Where art thou journeying?

Thy lay is in heaven, thy love is on earth.

3. O'er fell and fountain sheen,8
O'er moor and mountain green,

O'er the red streamers that herald the day,
Over the cloudlet dim,

Over the rainbow's rim,

Musical cherub, soar, singing away

4. Then, when the gloaming9 comes,
Low in the heather10 blooms,
Sweet will thy welcome and bed of love be!
Emblem of happiness,

Blest is thy dwelling-place

O, to abide in the desert with thee!

THE LARK AND THE ROOK.

1. "GOOD-NIGHT, Sir Rook!" said a little lark,
"The daylight fades-it will soon be dark:
I've bathed my wings in the sun's last ray,
I've sung my hymn to the dying day;
So now I haste to my quiet nook1

In

yon dewy meadow-good-night, Sir Rook." 2. "Good-night, poor lark!" said his titled friend, With a haughty toss and a distant bend; "I also go to my rest profound,

But not to sleep on the cold, damp ground;
The fittest place for a bird like me
Is the topmost bough of yon tall pine-tree.

3. "I opened my eyes at peep2 of day,

And saw you taking your upward way,
Dreaming your fond romantic dreams,
An ugly speck in the sun's bright beams;
Soaring too high to be seen or heard-
And said to myself, What a foolish bird!

4. "I trod the park with a princely air;
I fill'd my crop with the richest fare;
I caw'd3 all day 'mid a lordly crew,
And I made more noise in the world than you!

The sun shone full on my ebon1 wing;

I looked and wondered-good-night, poor thing!"

5. "Good-night, once more," said the lark's sweet voice, "I see no cause to repent my choice;

You build your nest in the lofty pine,
But is your slumber more 'soft than mine?
You make more noise in the world than I,
But whose is the sweeter minstrelsy ?"5

1 Nook, corner.

2 PEEP, dawn.

3 Caw, to cry like a crow, rook, or raven.

Wayside Gatherings.

14 EB'-ON, black.

5 MIN'-STREL-SY, singing. The occupation
of a musical performer.

LESSON XXI.

BIRDS IN SUMMER.

1. How pleasant the life of a bird must be,
Flitting about in each leafy tree;

In the leafy trees, so broad and tall,
Like a green and beautiful palace hall,
With its airy chambers, light and boon,
That open to sun, and stars, and moon,
That open unto the bright blue sky,
And the frolicsome winds as they wander by!
2. What a joy it must be, like a living breeze,
To flutter about 'mong the flowering trees;
Lightly to soar, and to see beneath

The wastes of the blossoming purple heath,
And the yellow furze, like fields of gold,
That gladden some fairy region old!
On mountain tops, on the billowy sea,
On the leafy stems of the forest tree,
How pleasant the life of a bird must be!

MARY HOWITT.

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Scale of Inches.

1. Purple Long-tailed Sunbird, Nectarinea platura. 2. Emerald Bird of Paradise, Paradisea apoda. 3. Stokes's Humming-bird, Trochilus Stokesii. 4. Nepaul Sunbird, Nectarinea Nepalensis. 5. Malachite S. B., Nectarinea famosa. 6. Vieillot's H. B., Trochilus chalybeus. 7. Tufted-necked H. B., Trochilus ornatus. 8. Hoopoe, Upupa epops. 9. Red-throated H. B., Trochilus colubris. 10. Amethyst-throated S. B., Nectarinea amethystina. 11. Topaz-throated H. B., Trochilus pella.

1. THE thin-billed birds have been considered by an eminent naturalist1 "the most interesting of the animal world," as the smallest birds and the most brilliantly adorned are contained in this group. Here are found the hoopoes, the delicate humming-birds, the sunbirds of the torrid zone, and the far-famed birds of Paradise.

2. The hoopoes, which are a group of brilliant African birds, occasionally seen in Europe, are not found in this country: One of these birds, which is of a reddish-gray and black color above, and white below, with an ample crest of orangebrown feathers, strays occasionally to the British isles, where it attracts considerable attention. An African species, not

found in Europe, is said to glitter in the sunlight with the most brilliant hues of azure2 and emerald3 green.

3. The HUMMING-BIRDS, of which more than a hundred species are known to exist, are wholly confined to the American continent and the adjacent islands. These beautiful "flower birds," "the jewels of ornithology," have excited the admiration of all who have observed them, by their delicate forms and the dazzling splendor of their plumage.

"The humming-bird! the humming-bird!
So fairy-like and bright;

It lives among the sunny flowers,

A creature of delight."-MRS. HOWITT.

They are the smallest of the feathered races, some species being exceeded in size and weight by several of the insect tribe.

4. These fairy birds swarm in the tropical forests of South America, fairly covering the dense growth of wild flowers, whose blossoms only give way in beauty to the sparkling tints of their airy tenants.

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"Like fairy sprites, a thousand birds
Glance by on golden wing;
Birds lovelier than the lovely hues

Of the blooms wherein they sing."

They also abound in gardens, and seem to delight in the society of man, becoming familiar and destitute of fear, hovering near a shrub in bloom while the flowers are plucked from the opposite side.

5. Only three or four species of humming-birds are found within the limits of the United States, and of these the redthroated, or northern humming-bird, well known for its golden-green back, purple wings, and ruby-colored throat, is the most common. It is three inches and a half long from the tip of its bill to the end of its tail. It is often seen hovering among the arbors of honeysuckles and beds of flowers, poising itself in the air for the space of two or three seconds, with a murmuring noise made by the rapid motion of its scarcely visible wings, thrusting its long tubular tongue into the flowers in search of food, and then suddenly darting off with a rapidity so great that the eye can not follow it.