devour flies; but its most delicious morsel was any species of hairy caterpillar; these insects it seized with avidity, shook them to death, and softened by passing several times through the bill, till they were quite pliant, when it would swallow whole the largest of the caterpillars of the egger or drinker moths. It was very fearful of strangers, fluttering in its cage to avoid their attentions; but it would quietly suffer itself to be handled by a young lady, who had been its kind benefactress, appearing to like the warmth of her hand to its feet. But now let us listen to another poet : "Hark! the cuckoo's sprightly note, That tells the coming of the vernal prime, A year! how short the space unnoticed by . The gay and mindless throng, yet awful to Another year may pass, unheeded as The one so lately number'd in the book Of Time, and thou wilt take thy flight to realms A thousand thoughts of solemn import to THE BLACKBIRD. THIS bird is an early breeder: it prepares a nest composed externally of green moss, fibrous roots, and other similar materials; the inside is plastered with earth, and afterwards lined with dry grass; and the nest is generally placed in a thick bush, or against the side of a bank. The song of the blackbird commences early in the spring, and is a shrill kind of whistle of various notes. It has much less variety and compass than the voice of the thrush, but it is far more mellow. Of this bird Grahame says : "When snow-drops die, and the green primrose leaves Another poet, Montgomery, says: "Those who live in the country, and who are apt to awake early on spring mornings, when all around is still, and the lark himself is yet on the ground, must often have been charmed with the solitary song of the blackbird, a brief stave of six or seven notes only, followed by an interlude of silence, during which the ear listens eagerly for a repetition. His broad and homely strain, different from that of every other minstrel of the woods, and chiming in at intervals with the universal chorus of wild throats, is likewise known from infancy to those who have been accustomed to walk abroad on spring evenings. The yellow bill and glossy black plumage of the same conspicuous bird are equally familiar to the eye of such, when he flits from hedge to tree, or across a meadow; nor less so to their ear is the chuckling call with which he bolts out of a bush before the startled passenger, who has unconsciously disturbed him on his perch. MORNING. "Golden Bill! Golden Bill! Lo! the peep of day; All the air is cool and still, From the elm-tree on the hill, Chaunt away: While the moon drops down the west, Lies thy mate upon her nest; And the stars before the sun Melt, like snow-flakes, one by one. Let thy loud and welcome lay Pour along Few notes, but strong." EVENING. "Jet-bright Wing! Jet-bright Wing! Keeping time with twinkling eye, Till both hill and valley ring, |