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the pretences upon which we sent to the shop, that our young philosopher might be made happy, by bringing what was required. Upon one of these occasions we told him that a plant rather rare, the sonchus sibiricus, was said to grow in the neighbourhood of Tornea, but that we had failed in our endeavours to find it. The words were scarcely uttered, when he ran off, as fast as his legs could carry him, and soon returned, having in his hand two or three specimens of the plant."

LESSON XXXII.-NESTS OF BRITISH BIRDS.

The hemispherical cups of mud, formed by the common House Martin in the corners of windows, and under the eaves and ledges of houses, are well known to every one. Soft mud from the edges of pools, or ruts in the high road, is collected by the bird in little pellets, carried in her mouth to the selected spot, and there plastered against the wall, pellet after pellet, until the lowest layer is formed. As each is deposited, the tenacity of the material is increased by an admixture with glutinous saliva secreted by the bird, and minute bits of broken straw help to render it more compact. Lest the weight of the work, while it is yet soft, should pull it down, the little architect does not work too fast; but making only a shallow layer every morning, she devotes the rest of the day to amusement: thus the work progressively hardens. She works by clinging to the irregularities of the wall, with her strong feet in a perpendicular position, the tail strongly thrown in, and serving as an additional support; and as she lays on each pellet of mud, she plasters it about with her chin, moving her head rapidly from side to side. Thus, in the course of ten days or a fortnight, a snug

and tight

The

chamber is constructed, with a small hole near the upper part; and being lined with grass and feathers, is admirably adapted for the reception and rearing of the young brood. The nest of the Golden Oriole, rarely found in England, is said to be in shape like a purse or a basket, with two handles, by which it is hung with great art from two parallel twigs, or the fork of a branch. The materials used for it are chiefly long grass and wool, so curiously interwoven as mutually to confine and sustain each other. The Chaffinch and the Goldfinch are remarkable among our birds for the extreme neatness and beauty of the nests which they construct. substances which they use are chiefly moss and wool, the whole compacted together, and rendered almost as close and smooth as a piece of cloth. That of the Goldfinch is the most smooth and uniform-not a single fibre of the moss being allowed to project from the outline; but that of the Chaffinch is tastefully ornamented on the outer surface, by the addition of minute paper-like lichens, of a delicate green or silvery-grey hue, stuck on and fastened with spiders' webs. The nest of the Longtailed Tit is, in form, much like a bottle with a short neck, composed of green mosses carefully felted together with wool. The outside sparkles with silver-coloured lichens, scattered over the surface, and intermingled with the egg-nests of spiders, from the size of a pea and upwards, parts of which are drawn out to assist in felting; so that when the texture of the nest is stretched, ortions of fine gossamer-like threads appear among the fibres of the wool. The interior is filled with a profusion of soft feathers, among which twelve or fifteen little Tits are sometimes brought into the world.

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P. H. Gosse.

LESSON XXXIII.-A PSALM OF LIFE.

'Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

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And the grave is not its goal;
"Dust thou art—to dust returnest,"
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Finds us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act-act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labour and to wait.-Longfellow.

LESSON XXXIV.-PLAINS.

Plains of greater or less extent, presenting comparatively small inequalities, occur in all parts of the globe. A vast plain of this description occupies a considerable portion of Northern Europe, commencing on the German Ocean, comprising the Netherlands, Denmark, the northern districts of France and Germany, a considerable portion of Poland, and nearly the whole of European Russia, and terminating only at the base of the Uralian Mountains.

This vast plain is separated by the Uralian range from another of yet greater extent, the Siberian lowland, which occupies nearly the whole of Northern Asia. The depression in the region of the Caspian Sea may be considered a continuation of the great European lowland.

A vast plain, or lowland, extends across the northern part of Africa, stretching from the shores of the Atlantic. to the valley of the Nile, partially bounded on the north by the Atlas range, and terminated on the south by the elevated land which extends across from Cape Verde to Abyssinia.

In the New World, the great valley of the Mississippi presents a vast and magnificent plain. A large portion

of this great lowland is remarkably level, and consequently subject to periodical inundations from the mighty rivers by which it is traversed. The more

elevated parts consist of an alternation of forests, and prairies (or natural meadows), abounding in wild animals. The lowlands of South America, called llanos, or pampas, and savannahs, are of equal extent.

The plains to which we have hitherto directed our attention are for the most part little elevated above the level of the sea; but there is another class of plains which claims some notice, plateaux, or table-lands, an appellation which has been given them on account of their elevation above the other plains, and occasional table-like form, rising abruptly, with steep acclivities on every side. Some of these table-lands are of great extent, and retain a general elevation of several thousand feet above the sea, though in many instances their surfaces are much undulated.

The most extensive table-land in Europe is that of Central Spain, embracing the two Castiles, which has a general elevation of 2,000 feet above the level of the sea.

Asia presents some of the most extensive table-lands on the face of the globe. The most remarkable of these are the vast regions of Central Asia, including Thibet, and the desert of Gobi or Shamo.

A table-land of considerable extent has been observed in South Africa. It is situated between the Orange River and the Kuisip, and is flanked by the Unuma, or Bulb Mountains.

The New World affords examples of some very considerable plateaux. That of Mexico has a general elevation of 7,000 feet above the sea. Several less extensive but very elevated table-lands are included between the two

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