Oh! could I fly, I'd fly with thee; We'd make, with social wing, Companions of the spring. LOGAN. This bird, so well known to you by its singular and unvaried note, arrives in our island early in spring, and takes its departure for Africa generally in the month of July. The Cuckoo is insectivorous in its diet, that is, lives upon insects, such as caterpillars, dragonflies, &c. What is most strange in the history of this bird is, its habit of providing for its young, by depositing its eggs in the nests of other birds; the nests usually chosen are those of the Hedgesparrow, Wagtail, &c. The egg is very small in comparison with the size of the bird;-when the young Cookoo is hatched, and has gained a little strength, it very coolly dislodges all its weaker companions by getting under them and with a sort of jirk forcing them overboard, not very grateful conduct after the kind attention and care of the foster-mother. THOSE EVENING BELLS. "Those Evening Bells, those Evening bells, Of youth and home and that sweet time, Those joyous hours are past away, (1) Soothing-comforting. And so 'twill be when I am gone, That tuneful peal will still ring on; While other Bards (2) shall walk these dells, (3) (2) Bards-poets.-(3) Dells-shady walks. MOORE. These verses describe certain thoughts and reflections which passed over the mind of the writer, on hearing the ringing of bells at Evening. He is reminded of his home, of his early friends, and youthful playmates, many of whom are gone to their long home, and he reflects that those same bells will still ring on when he also sleeps. THE WANDERING BOY. When the winter wind whistles along the wild moor, And the cottager shuts on the beggar his door; When the chilling tear stands in my comfortless eye, Oh, how hard is the lot of the Wandering Boy; The winter is cold, and I have no vest.(1) Yet I once had a home, and I once had a sire, (4) But my Father and Mother were summoned away, The wind it is keen, (7) and the snow loads the gale; KIRKE WHITE. (7) Keen-cold.-(8) List-short for listen. HUMILITY. The bird that soars on highest wing, When Mary chose" the better part, She meekly sat at Jesus' feet; Fairest and least adorned is she, Whose clothing is humility. The saint that wears heaven's brightest crown, The weight of glory bows him down, Then most, when most his soul ascends. J. MONTGOMERY. In reading the biographies of great and good men you will find, with but few exceptions, that the greatest men have generally been the humblest. Take for example the immortal name of Newton, how transcendent was his genius, yet how humble in all things did he at all times show himself. As in the natural world with the Nightingale and Lark. so it is in the world of Man, an unassuming and plain deportment conceals frequently great and glorious powers. THE HOMES OF ENGLAND. The stately homes of England, How beautiful they stand! O'er all the pleasant land! The Deer across their green sward bound, And the Swan glides past them with the sound, The merry homes of England! Around their hearths by night, What gladsome looks of household love, Meet in the ruddy light! (1) Ancestral-relating or belonging to ancestors. There Woman's voice flows forth in song, The cottage-homes of England; The free fair homes of England; And green for ever be the groves, And bright the flowery sod, Where first the child's glad spirit loves, Its country and its God. MRS. HEMANS. (2) Tunefully-musically, pleasantly.-(3) Nook-corner or bed. (4) Hallow'd-sacred. The subject of the above verses is the 'Homes of England.' commencing with the 'Stately Homes of England,' down to the 'Cottage Homes of England.' And true it is that the Peasant's small cot is as dear to him, and perhaps more so, than the splendid mansion is to the Nobleman. In no country more than England do the people value so highly their homes and their hearths. In them are centred their affections, their hopes, their joys ;—and in them, as a quiet haven, they seek repose and tranquility from the stormy and turbulent world. Little boys and girls cannot value too much their happy and comfortable homes. |