ally called "fly-catchers," are common in this country; but the geographic range of the true broad-billed fly-catchers is almost confined to tropical regions, where insects, which constitute their principal, if not their only food, are the most abundant.

1 PERCH'-ING, sitting like a bird.

13 PERCH, any thing on which birds light. 2 MAN'-DI-BLE, applied to the lower jaw of 4 CHIME, murmur; musical harmony. the mammalia, to both jaws of birds, and 5 PRE-CIP-I-TA'-TION, headlong haste. to the upper pair of jaws in insects. 6 CA-NA'-RY, a bird from the Canary Isles.

THE MOCKING-BIRD.

1. EARLY on a pleasant day
In the poet's month of May,
Field and forest looked so fair,
So refreshing was the air,
That, in spite of morning dew,
Forth I walked where tangling grew

Many a thorn and breezy bush ;

When the redbreast and the thrush

Gayly raised their early lay,

Thankful for returning day.

2. Every thicket, bush, and tree
Swelled the grateful harmony:
As it mildly swept along,

Echo seemed to catch the song;
But the plain was wide and clear;
Echo never whispered near.
From a neighboring mocking-bird
Came the answering notes I heard.

3. Soft and low the song began:
I scarcely caught it as it ran
Through the melancholy trill
Of the plaintive whippoorwill,
Through the ringdove's gentle wail—
Chattering jay and whistling quail,
Sparrow's twitter, catbird's cry,
Redbird's whistle, robin's sigh:
Blackbird, bluebird, swallow, lark,
Each his native note might mark.

4. Oft he tried the lesson o'er,
Each time louder than before.
Burst at length the finished song;
Loud and clear it poured along;
All the choir in silence heard.
Hushed before this wondrous bird,
All transported and amazed,
Scarcely breathing, long I gazed.

5. Now it reached the loudest swell; Lower, lower, now it fell,

Lower, lower, lower still;

Scarce it sounded o'er the rill.
Now the warbler ceased to sing;
Then he spread his russet wing,
And I saw him take his flight
Other regions to delight.

J. R. DRAKE.

LESSON XI.

THE BLUEBIRD (Sialia Wilsonii).

1. THE bluebird, which is found in great numbers in the Southern States during winter, visits the north in early spring, frequently while the snow is on the ground; and so fond is he of his old haunts, that even in mid-winter, after a few days of mild weather, he reappears

1

among us, enlivening even a day of sunshine by his cheerful presence.

2. His fondness for his mate, and solicitude2 to please her, have often been noticed and admired. Says a curious and correct observer: "He uses the tenderest expressions, sits close by her, and sings to her his most endearing warblings. When seated together, if he espies an insect delicious to her taste, he takes it up, flies with it to her, spreads his wing over her, and puts it into her mouth. If a rival makes his appearance, he attacks and pursues the intruder as he shifts from place to place, in tones that bespeak the jealousy of his affection; conducts him, with many reproofs, beyond the extremities of his territory, and returns to warble out his transports of triumph beside his beloved mate."

3. The summer song of the bluebird is a soft, agreeable warble, usually accompanied with a gentle quivering of the wings; but when the cold blasts of autumn threaten the approach of winter, it changes to a single plaintive note, like a sigh at leaving the endeared objects of his northern home. No wonder that the society of the bluebird is courted by the inhabitants of the country, and that the farmers are so willing to provide for it, in some suitable place, a snug little summerhouse, ready fitted, and rent free. For this he more than sufficiently repays them by the cheerfulness of his song, and the multitude of injurious insects which he daily destroys.

4. "When winter's cold tempests and snows are no more,
Green meadows and brown furrow'd fields reappearing,
The fishermen hauling their nets to the shore,

And cloud-cleaving geese to the north are all steering;
When first the low butterfly flits on the wing,

When red glow the maples, so fresh and so pleasing,
O then comes the bluebird, the herald of spring!

And hails, with his warblings, the charms of the season.

5. "He flits through the orchard, he visits each tree,

The red flowering peach, and the apple's sweet blossoms,
The fruit-bearing products, wherever they be,

And seizes the caitiffs" that lurk in their bosoms;
He drags the vile grub from the corn it devours,

The worms from their beds where they riot and welter;"
His song and his services freely are ours,

And all that he asks is, in summer, a shelter.

6. "But when the gay scenes of the summer are o'er,
And autumn slow enters, so silent and sallow,'
And millions of warblers that charm'd us before,
Have fled in the train of the sun-seeking swallow,
The bluebird, forsaken, yet true to his home,

Still lingers and looks for a milder to-morrow,
Till, forced by the rigors of winter to roam,

He sings his adieu in a lone note of sorrow.

7. "While spring's lovely season, serene, dewy, warm,
The green face of earth, and the pure blue of heaven,
Or love's native music, have power to charm,
Or sympathy's glow to our feelings is given,
Still dear to each bosom the bluebird shall be ;
His voice, like the thrillings of hope, is a treasure;
For, through bleakest storms, if a calm he but see,

He comes to remind us of sunshine and pleasure."

ALEX. WILSON.

8. In his motions and general character the bluebird has great resemblance to the robin redbreast of Britain, and had he the brown olive of that bird, instead of his own blue, he could hardly be distinguished from him. Like him he is known to almost every child, and shows as much confidence in man by associating with him in summer, as the other by his familiarity in winter.

1 HÄUNTS (like a in far), place of resort.

2 SO-LI'-CI-TUDE, anxiety.

3 SHIFTS, moves.

4 BE-SPEAK', show; indicate.

15 €AI-TIFF, a captive; a rascal.

6 WEL-TER, to roll or wallow.

7 SAL'-LOW, having a yellow color, like the color of the leaves in autumn.

1. Night-hawk, Caprimulgus Americanus. 2. Green Tody, Todus viridis. 3. Barnswallow, Hirundo rustica. 4. Kingfisher, Alcedo alcyon. 5. Trogon, Trogon pavoninus. 6. African Blue-headed Bee-eater, Merops ceruleo-cephalus. 7. Royal Great-crest, Todus regius.

1. THIS division of the perching birds is readily distinguished from all others by the beak, which is short, but broad, and very deeply cleft, so that the opening of the mouth is extremely wide. The principal home of these birds is in tropical countries. Some species are found in the temperate zone during the warm season of the year, but on the approach of winter they depart to more congenial2 climes. They have been divided into the following six families: Nightjars, or Night-hawks, Bee-eaters, Swallows, Todies, Trogons, and Kingfishers.

2. Among the night-jars are included the common goatsucker of Europe, our common night-hawk, whippoorwill, and chuck-wills-widow, and also a South American night