dingy pink, and yellowish on the head and breast; and they both had crests and very thick bills.'

"The female bird is of a much paler colour-more a buff than a scarlet, with pale crimson wings and tail, and darker on the back. The proper name of this species of bird is the grosbeak-perhaps so called from the thick bill which you observed, and which is a characteristic of all the grosbeaks; for there are several species, all having the same form of bill, and all being conspicuous for their brilliant plumage, particularly the male birds. The grosbeaks are related to the finches-a very large family, which have all rather short and thick bills, though not so remarkably so as the grosbeaks.'

'And were those other red-birds all grosbeaks?' asked Duncan.

There was one

'No; but finches most of them were. called the purple finch, but wearing a general crimson hue; another, a red bunting, was gay as a parrot, with scarlet and gold and blue. Those known as the summer red-birds came from Mexico, where they had been spending the winter. The male was entirely red, exceedingly bright, but the female was yellow. Besides these. gay members of the finch family, numerous woodpeckers, all pretty nearly of the same size, and all clad in a garb of equal brilliancy, puzzled as much as they dazzled me.'

Little Ellie here broke in with an opinion, that so many red-birds must make the trees look like a hedge of poppies. Maggie's imagination was not quite so vivid as this, but she pictured to herself a scene of great beauty

in the rich and varied greens of the thick trees, with the gem-like birds flitting in and out and around them, and the ground beneath enamelled with flowers, like a rich carpet,-pictures which made the two boys look forward with all the more impatience to that period when, being 'grown-up,' they would begin their travels, and make that vast collection of beautiful things, from the red-birds and humming-birds of America, to the sugar-birds and sunbirds of Australia and Africa.

'But, now, Aunt Jenny,' said Freddy; 'now you have not told us anything about your own little red-birds that you put into the sparrow's cage!'

'No; we have left them till quite the last, poor little things. The gardener found the nest, and brought it to me with three young birds in it; and when I asked him how to feed them, he told me to stand the cage near an open window, and let the young birds take their chance, for the old ones would be sure to find them out and come and feed them,'

'And did they?' 'Did you?' 'Did they?' exclaimed the eager audience.

'Yes; and opposite the window where the cage stood were some tall old trees; and after the poor little miserable nestlings had struggled and sprawled and squeaked themselves out of their nest several times, in a most heartrending manner for they were only a few days old-I saw an extremely bright red-bird flying to and fro, then settling on the tree, and again dashing past the window in a restless and disturbed manner. It settled one moment, and

was off again, now and then approaching the window, as if to make an inspection, but uncertain what next to do. I moved away out of sight, and, keeping very still, continued to watch. Soon another bird, a yellow one, accompanied the red one; and as they both behaved in a similar manner, uttering peculiar cries, and approaching quite near to the window, I conjectured that this second one must be the mother.'

'How very strange for the papa bird to be red, and the hen yellow!' said Maggie.

'Yes, so I thought; but afterwards found that in many of the finches the scarlets and crimsons are worn by the male bird only, the yellows and quieter tints adorning and protecting the mother.'

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Protecting!" Aunt Jenny?' exclaimed Duncan in

quiringly.

'Yes, Dunny. Doubtless it is a great protection for the mother, who has to spend so much of her time on the nest, to be clad in the less conspicuous colours. In this species, the male is of the brightest scarlet, with jet black wings and tail-a most brilliant fellow; and the female is of a dark, dusky, greenish colour on the back, and yellow beneath, colours that would be scarcely distinguishable on the nest.'

'Oh, ah! I did not think of that,' said Duncan. 'To be sure, the yellows and dingy colours would not show. among the leaves half as plainly as reds.'

'I have often wondered why the male birds should always be decked out in the prettiest colours,' said