rambling in the wood, which was his favourite resort, he heard the same goldfinch singing in a tree near him. My father did not for a moment doubt the identity of the bird, though he wondered very much how it could be there. On his return to the town, he called at the lady's. So, madam, you have lost your goldfinch,' he said. To this the lady assented; and asked, in some surprise, how he could have known the circumstance, as the bird had only made its escape that morning. Oh,' replied he, I heard it singing in the wood as I came along.' This little anecdote may serve to illustrate the delicacy of his musical ear, for which he was remarkable.”

THE SWIFT.

THE black martin, or screech martin, is also a name of this bird, which frequents steeples, towers, and other lofty buildings, in the holes of which it makes its nest; but it will sometimes build under the tiles of houses and barns. The nest is made of dried grass, lined with feathers, which the bird, seldom alighting on the ground for any purpose, collects on the wing, sweeping them very dexterously from the earth. While the female is sitting, the male is continually flying to and fro from the spot, and making a screeching noise, which is its only note. very warm weather these birds soar to a great height; but in cold or moist weather they fly low, in search of flies and other insects, which at that time cannot ascend.

In

Birds destroy insects in great numbers; and thus, clearing, as they do, the air, they ought to be preserved from molestation. Even one will consume an immense quantity of flies in a short space of time; and were it not for such services, we should often be exposed to

great inconvenience. In the breeding season, when the young are hatched, and the parent birds are in the habit of making excursions into the country to a considerable distance, for the purpose of collecting flies, to be brought home as food, a gentleman shot a swift. He says, "On picking up my hapless and ill-gotten prey, I observed a number of flies, some mutilated, others scarcely injured, crawling out of the bird's mouth; the throat and pouch seemed absolutely stuffed with them, and an incredible number was at length disgorged. I am sure I speak within compass when I state, that there was a mass of flies, just caught by this single swift, larger than, when pressed close, could conveniently be contained in the bowl of an ordinary tablespoon."

Barns nor hoarded grain have we,
Yet we carol merrily :-

Mortal, flee from doubt and sorrow:
God provideth for the morrow!

"One there lives, whose guardian eye Guides our humble destiny;

One there lives, who, Lord of all,
Keeps our feathers lest they fall:
Pass we blithely, then, the time,
Fearless of the snare and lime,

Free from doubt and faithless sorrow:
God provideth for the morrow!'"

THE MAGPIE.

THE magpie, in its native state, is a bird of no common beauty. A just idea cannot be formed of its appearance when seen only in captivity. These birds rarely remove far from the dwelling of man, and continue in pairs the whole year. The nest is curiously built for the defence of their young; it is oval in shape, made of sticks, generally the black-thorn, strongly woven together, with only a sufficient entrance on one side the bottom is lined with fibrous roots, and plastered with earth.

:

Every kind of animal food seems to be acceptable to the magpie. It will rict in flesh, game, and fish, when these can be procured; it will take up with carrion, insects, and fruit, when accessible; and feed on grain when they are not to be got. All our birds seem to know well its alarming noise. In winter, magpies will assemble in great numbers towards the evening, to roost in some coppice or thicket; but as day approaches they separate again.