THE WATER OUZEL.

THE water ouzel frequents the sides of rocky mountain streams. As early as January or February it begins its song. In Cumberland it is known by the name of the Bessy Ducker, and has been celebrated as

"A cheerful bird that loves the stream,

And the stream's voice, and answers, in like strains,

Murmuring deliciously."

Another description of it is, that its notes resemble "the sound of water gurgling among pebbles." In its favourite haunts it breeds, and continues the whole year. The nest is very large, formed externally of moss and water-plants, and lined with dry oak leaves. It is commonly placed in some mossy bank overhanging the water; in shape it resembles that of the wren, but is not so deep, and has a dome or covering. Its eggs are considerably less than those of the blackbird.

The ouzel seems alike indifferent to heat and cold, so long as it can be near water that is not frozen. Should a stranger find out its romantic abode, the bird, according

to an acute observer, flits before him chirping as it goes from stone to stone, and apparently with so feeble a wing, that he imagines it unfledged, utterly incapable of rising into the air, and consequently easily taken. But as he confidently pursues, the bird flits on, flirts its tail, and now and then jerks round, as if half astonished, half inviting. But onward they fare, till they come to a bolder and tougher stratum which has impeded the stream, but at the same time has given it fall and force enough to form a pool below, which boiling where the cascade plunges or rises again, is calm enough when compared with others that have been passed. The water merely leaves a clean and pebbled beach, and the lofty rocks on the other side allow no footing for a bird. Hopping, and apparently badly-winged, the ouzel halts on the beach, and forward rushes the pursuer, hat in hand to the capture, but the wet stones are treacherous, and down he falls, and dips himself. Now rising, he sees the hat which was to secure the bird, whirling round and round in the eddies. And the bird has vanished! Soon, however, it bobs to the surface, at the lower end of the pool on the other side, its feathers dry without shaking off the water, and leaping first on one stone then on another, it descends the ravine in a manner as cool and collected as that with which it rose.

To recover the hat is a difficult task, but it may be accomplished by means of one of the long suckers of hazel growing from the tangled and gnarled stool on the bank, though if the hold be not taken cautiously, and kept carefully, there may be, as it has been said, a second dipping, and no dipper to boast of.

THE PIGEON.

THE Columbidæ, or family of the pigeon, are very extensively distributed through the earth, being found in all climates, except within the frigid zones. It is, however, in the tropical climes of Southern Asia, and the islands of the great Indian Archipelago, that they swarm in the greatest abundance and variety, because there a large supply of food, adapted to each kind, is always to be found. In these parts of the earth, most of the thick-billed pigeons, that vie with the parrots in the colour of their plumage, luxuriate amidst the thick foliage of the banyan and other trees, from which they obtain a rich and never-failing repast.

The dove is universally admitted to be a beautiful object. The splendour of its eye, the innocence of its look, the sweetness, of its disposition, and the purity of its manners, have made it, in every age, the theme of admiration and praise. It is evident, from the Scriptures, that Syria abounded with doves, and the allusions

to these birds in the sacred volume are numerous and important.

The dove was selected by Jehovah to be the messenger of peace to Noah and his family. The first time she was sent out, she soon returned, because the waters still covered the face of the earth, and she could find no rest for the sole of her foot. On her second excursion, she returned, after pursuing her flight to a much greater distance, for she did not come back till the evening, when she returned with an olive-leaf in her mouth, which Noah justly considered as a sure proof that the waters had subsided.

The practice of conveying intelligence by means of tame doves, is of long standing in the East. It has been sweetly said :—

"The dove let loose in eastern skies,

Returning fondly home,

Ne'er stoops to earth her wing, nor flies
Where idle warblers roam:

But high she shoots through air and light,
Above all low delay:

Where nothing earthly bounds her flight,

Nor shadow dims her way.

So grant me, Lord, from every stain

Of sinful passions free,

Aloft, through virtue's purer air,

To steer my course to Thee!