streams or in other wet places. Why do they grow so close to the water? (They grow best in wet ground.) When heavy rains come, or when the snow melts in the spring, what happens to the streams? (They are filled up with water.) Yes, and this water rushes and tears its way down, and often carries away with it the soil from the banks. But where these trees are growing, the banks are saved. Can any one tell me how the willows save them? Well, the roots spread through the wet ground like so

many long fingers, extending away out on all sides, crossing and recrossing each other and holding the soil fast, so that the rushing water cannot carry it away.

About how high do the trunks of these white willows grow? You can guess very nearly by looking at the woman who stands close to one of them. (Ten or twelve feet.) Why is the foliage so light and thin? (The leaves are just coming out.) Then, what season of the year must it be? (Spring.) Tell me some things that

make you think so? (Thin foliage, young leaves and branches, grass is short and light.) Can any one tell me the shape of the willow leaf when it is full grown? (Long, narrow, pointed.) Yes, and there's another interesting thing about the leaf that gives the name to the tree. What do you think it is? (The leaves are white.) Yes, a white silky substance covers both sides of the leaf.

Now, these are very useful trees. Men use them for making many useful things. Can you name some things made of willow? (Chairs, baskets, baby-carriages, etc.) Now, this is the kind of a tree that they're made from. These little branches and twigs are very supple so that you can bend them almost like rubber and they don't break, and when you take the bark off the wood is smooth and white. Some farmers make a business of growing these trees just for making willow ware.

LESSON FOR THE THIRD YEAR.

"SONG OF THE LARK."
Breton.

Very early in the morning, just when the sun is rising, as you see it in the picture, if you listen carefully, you will hear first one little bird chirp, chirp, chirp, then another and another until all the little birds are awake and singing. And if you were to go into the woods in summer time when the song-birds have returned from the warm sunny south, where they went to escape the snow and the storms of our cold winters, you would hear the sweet songs of these birds everywhere. Have you ever heard any song birds? Perhaps some little boy can tell me the name of some of the song birds he has heard? (Song sparrow, robin, etc.) What bird is our lesson about to-day?

(The lark.) Can you give me the names of some of the larks you know of? (Meadow lark, shore lark.) Yes, there are a great many of these larks in our country, but the lark in our lesson is a different bird. It is called the skylark. Now, I think you can tell me why it is called the skylark? (Because it soars away up in the sky.) There are very few, if any, of these wonderful birds in our country, but away across the sea in France, England, Italy, Germany, and in almost all the other countries of Europe there is a little bird that sings the sweetest song of all the birds, and it is called the skylark.

Now, I want you to look at your pictures very carefully and see if you can find a bird. (Close to the upper edge of the picture, toward the left.) That's the bird that sings the sweetest song of all the birds. What is it called? Look again and tell me how big it is. You know how large a sparrow is; well, it's a little larger than a sparrow; its body is thinner, and its tail is a little longer, and it is a good deal the color of the ground. I wonder why it's the color of the ground? (To protect it from being discovered; its enemies won't be able to distinguish it easily.) Yes, and the color is a great protection for the bird when it is searching along the ground for its food. What kind of food do you think it picks up there? (Insects, seeds, worms.)

What kind of a place in the fields do you think larks choose for their nests? Yes, in fields where the surface of the ground is rough and overgrown with grass or hay or other herbage, they can find safe places for their nests and they search out a spot where the herbage is thickest and in tufts, and there they build the nest.

Sometimes they select a place under a clod of earth which makes a safe and cosy place for the nest. You know they have to be very careful in selecting the place for their nest so that the field mice and other little animals can't easily find them. Can any one tell me what the nest is made of? (Dried grass, straw.) Now, the lark is a very timid bird and is easily frightened. It can hear the slightest noise a long way off and knows when it means danger to the nest. If any one is trying to find the nest, what do you think the lark would do? (Fly away.) No, as soon as you came near the nest, it would get out of the nest and creep away quietly and stealthily on the ground, under the grass, so close to the ground you could not see it, and when quite a distance away, it would dart sharply up, and if you were quick enough to see it darting up from the ground, you would naturally think the nest was there, and you would go to that spot to look for it, but of course you would not find it there. You would be quite a distance away from the nest.

Now, look at the picture again. Where is the bird? (Away up high in the sky.) Is it very high? Yes, and how it is soaring! If you had been in the fields watching this wonderful bird, like the woman in the picture, you would have seen it spring out of its nest in the early morning, singing with all its might and main and soaring away up into the sky. How far up does it go? (So far that you can't see it; out of sight.) What makes the woman stop and listen? (She hears the lark.) Don't you think its song must be very sweet to stop her on her way to work? I wonder how long she'll stand there and listen to the bird? (Until it's out of

sight.) Yes, until it has soared away up out of sight. Does the lark stay up in the sky all day? No, but it stays up for a long time, and although you can't see it, you can hear it singing steadily all the time.

What kind of wings do you think this little bird must have to carry it up so high? Yes, and they must be very powerful wings, too. Now, although the skylark is a very small bird, it has very strong wings. It can fly all day long if it wants to. Do you think the lark has any difficulty in finding its way back to the nest? Don't you think it might lose its way sometimes, being so high up, so far out of sight? Why shouldn't it? You couldn't distinguish things so far away. Many birds can see more distinctly than we can, and those larks, although they are so high up, can tell the field they came from, and the very spot in the field where the nest is. How do we know this? (By watching them.) Yes, if you watched one coming down, you would see that it comes down almost directly above its nest.

LESSONS FOR THE FIRST AND SECOND YEARS.

"THE CAT FAMILY."

Adam.

I wonder if all the little boys and girls here love the little pussy cats. Yes, I'm sure we all love the little pussy cats, and I think we like to play with them, too. What are they doing in the picture? (Playing.) Yes, they are romping about and playing with each other and having such a good time. Show me the mother cat. Do you think she loves her little ones? How do you know she does? (She has her paw around one of them.) Yes, and what else makes you think so? (She doesn't get angry when

another one is jumping on her back.) No, she just wags her tail; she feels so good. Who sees pussy's tail? By and by, what do you think one of the little pussy cats will do with it? (Get hold of it, play with it.) Will the mother cat get angry? (No she won't do anything to her at all.) She'll just let the little ones go on and play with it, and watch her carefully all the time. Who sees the two little kittens away back near the wall? What are they doing? How do they play? (Jump and run after each other; roll over each other, etc.)

How many of you have a pussy cat at home? Why does mamma like to have her in the house? (Because she keeps the mice away.) Does pussy make a noise when she's looking for the mouse? No, she walks so softly you can't hear her.

Now, look at this mother cat in the

picture. Isn't she very beautiful? See her soft velvety fur! Who has seen pussy scratch? Do you think she would scratch her little ones? What color is she? See what a nice face she has! I think the people that own this cat must be very good to her. Don't you? What makes you think so? (She's so fat; she looks so happy; she isn't afraid.) I wonder what they give her to eat? (Milk, bread, meat.) And this pussy cat in the picture looks so lovely and clean and the little ones, too. Who knows how pussy cleans herself? (She washes her face with her paws.) Yes, and she licks her fur with her tongue.

When these kitties get all tired out playing, what will they do? (Go to sleep.) Where will they go when they want to sleep? (Beside their mother.) Yes, they'll nestle close up to the mother where they'll be warm.