and strength once existed, nor could we have believed that such a race had been extinguished forever.

12. Such, however, is the fact. The entire race of the mastodon has been utterly destroyed, leaving nothing but the mighty wreck of their skeletons, to testify that they once were among the living occupants of this land.

QUESTIONS. By what name is the mastodon sometimes improperly called? What is properly the mammoth? 1. Where were bones of extraordinary size occasionally found? 1. Where is the Hudson river? 1. Where the Ohio river? 1. How early were bones of the mastodon found on the Hudson and Ohio rivers? 2. What did the people suppose them to be? 3. What did naturalists prove them to be? 4. Where is the most perfect skeleton of the mastodon to be seen? 4. Where was it found? 4. What did it cost? 4. What is the Philadelphia Museum? 5. What animal did the mastodon most resemble? 6. What are the height and length of the skeleton in the Philadelphia Museum? 8. What is the length of the tusks? the mastodon now exist?

11. Does

LESSON XXXI.
Spell and Define.

1. Garland, a wreath of flowers.

3. Hum'drum, dull, stupid.

4. Re-spond'ed, answered.

5. Quer'u-lous, complaining.

5. O'ri-ole, a bird of the thrush kind.

6. Thrush, a singing bird of various species.

6. Chat'ter-ing, uttering rapid sounds.

7. Dah'lia, the flower of a plant.
7. Maize, Indian corn.

8. Mim'ic-ry, ludicrous imitation.
9. Car'a-van, a company of travelers.
10. Min'a-ret, a slender turret.
10. Mos'lem, Mohammedan.

11. Bulbul, the Persian nightingale. 12. Ru'ral, pertaining to the country.

ERRORS.1. Sud'dn for sud'den; 5. wran for wren; 5. teu for too; 5. spilled for spoiled; 6. mar'tings for martins; 6. chart'ter-ing for chat'ter-ing; 7. day'li-a for dah'lia; 9. noight for night; 10. purses for pierces; 11. In'di-an for In'dian; 11. srill for shrill.

MIGRATION OF BIRDS.

MRS. SIGOURNEY.

[Before reading this piece, let the pupil repeat the rule in Exercise III., p. 75.]

1. NOVEMBER came on with an eye severe,

And his stormy language was noarse to hear;

And the glittering garland of brown and red,

Which he wreathed for a while round the forest's head,

NOTE. -a See November, p. 228, note c.

With a sudden anger he rent away,

And all was cheerless, and bare, and gray.

2. Then the houseless grasshopper told his woes,

And the humming-bird sent forth a wail for the rose,
And the spider, that weaver of cunning so deep,
Rolled himself up in a ball to sleep;

And the cricket his merry horn laid by

On the shelf, with the pipe of the dragon-fly.

3. Soon the birds were heard, at the morning prime,
Consulting of flight to a warmer clime."

"Let us go! let us go!" said the bright-winged jay;
And his gay spouse sang from a rocking spray,
"I am tired to death of this humdrum tree,
I'll go if 'tis only the world to see."

4. "Will you go?" asked the robin, "my only love?"
And a tender strain from the leafless grove
Responded, "Wherever your lot is cast,
Mid summer skies or northern blast,

I am still at your side your heart to cheer,
Though dear is our nest in the thicket here."

5. "I am ready to go," cried the querulous wren,
"From the hateful homes of these northern men;
My throat is sore, and my feet are blue;
I fear I have caught the consumption too."
And the oriole told, with a flashing eye,
How his plumage was spoiled by this frosty sky.

6. Then up went the thrush with a trumpet call,

And the martins ca. e forth from their box on the wall,

NOTE. -a Most birds, at the approach of w. ter, migrate to a warmer climate in the south, and do not conceal themselves in the mor trees, as is sometimes sup posed.

And the owlets peeped out from their secret bower,
And the swallows convened on the old church tower,
And the council of blackbirds was long and loud,
Chattering and flying from tree to cloud.

"The dahlia is dead on her throne," said they
"And we saw the butterfly cold as clay;
Not a berry is found on the russet plains,
Not a kernel of ripened maize remains;
Every worm is hid; — shall we longer stay
To be wasted with famine? Away! away!"

8. But what a strange clamor, on elm and oak,
From a bevy of brown-coated mocking-birds, broke!
The theme of each separate speaker they told
In a shrill report, with such mimicry bold,
That the eloquent orators started to hear
Their own true echo, so wild and clear.

9. Then tribe after tribe, with its leader fair,

Swept off through the fathomless depths of air.
Who marketh their course to the tropics bright?
Who nerveth their wing for its weary flight?
Who guideth that caravan's trackless way
By the star at night and the cloud by day?

10. Some spread o'er the waters a daring wing,
In the isles of the southern sea to sing,
Or where the minaret, towering high,
Pierces the blue of the Moslem sky,
Or mid the harem's haunts of fear

Their lodges to build and their nurslings rear.

NOTES. God has probably created birds with a delicate sensibility to atmos pheric changes, so that they know when they are approaching a warmer climate, by their feelings.

11. The Indian fig," with its arching screen,
Welcomes them into its vistas green;
And the breathing buds of the spicy tree
Shrill at the burst of their melody;
And the bulbul starts, mid his carol clear,
Such a rushing of stranger-wings to hear.
12. O, wild-wood wanderers! how far away
From your
rural homes in our vales ye stray!
But when they are waked by the touch of spring,
Shall we see you again with your glancing wing?
Your nests mid our household trees to raise,

And stir our hearts in our Maker's praise?

QUESTIONS. 1. What is meant by the garland of brown and red? 3. What do most birds do at the approach of winter? 3. What did the bright-winged jay say? 4. What did the robin ask? 5. What did the wren say? 6. Where did the swallows convene? 9. How are birds guided to a warmer climate? 11. What is the Indian fig? 12. Do birds return to the places from which they migrate?

ERRORS.-1. Of'tun for oft'en; 2. for-git'ful for for-get'ful; 4, naw'thing for nothing; 5. gin'er-ous-ly for gen'er-ous-ly; 9. in-ca'per-ble for in-ca'pa-ble; 11. gar'din for gar'den; 14. ben for been; 17. pi-an'nah for pi-d'no; 18. sak'red for sa'cred; 20. his'try for his'to-ry; 21. di'mon for di'a-mond; 23. yore for your.

THE FORGET-ME-NOT.C

1. EMILY MILFORD was a generously disposed, amiab e Young girl, always ready to share with others whatever she

NOTES. -a Indian g: the banyan tree of India, which sometimes grows so large that a thousand persons may sit under its shade. b Many kinds of birds are said to return to the places from which they migrated. Forget-me-not is a plant common to this country and Europe; it is much admireu as a flower, and regarded as the emblem of fidelity, owing to the clear blue color of its flower.

might possess. She made clothes for destitute children, and provided the sick with food, often carrying it to them herself, in short, she was always happy to bestow her money upon those who needed it.

2. It will hardly be believed, that, with all this goodness of heart, she was the cause of much sorrow; for she was so forgetful, that what she promised on one day was entirely obliterated from her memory on the next. For instance, after having spent her money on some useless article, she was grieved to have to refuse to assist some poor person, to whom that, which she had so foolishly wasted, would have done so much good.

3. At one time, she would wholly neglect the fine flowerroots placed before the windows of the house, which, for want of being watered, withered away, to her mother's great mortification and regret. At another time, from her forgetting to feed her canary, it died of hunger; and yet she dreaded giving pain to the most insignificant creature.

4. In the same village with herself, not far from the great house, lived a poor girl named Eliza Newton. The father of this young person, who had formerly distinguished himself in the army, became, from fatigue and wounds, incapable of longer service, and retired to the country where he hoped to live on his little pension. This, however, was not promptly paid to him, and for nearly a year he had received nothing.

5. Eliza, his only daughter, supplied his necessities by means of her embroidery, sewing, and other works of the same description. She had gained the particular esteem of Emily, who often ordered different little works of her, and took essons in embroidery from her, for which she paid generously, and called her by no other name than her dear friend; though, at the same time, she often troubled this dear friend by her careless and forgetful disposition.

6. For instance, Emily's mother being dangerously ill, and a physician being sent for, from a great distance, to attend her,