EXERCISE XVII.

THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET.-S. Woodworth.

[See Remarks introductory to Exercise X.]

How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood,
When fond recollection presents them to view!
The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wild wood,
And every loved spot which my infancy knew;
The wide-spreading pond, and the mill that stood by it
The bridge, and the rock where the cataract fell,
The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it,

And even the rude bucket which hung in the weĽ;
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,
The moss-covered bucket, that hung in the well.
That moss-covered vessel I hail as a treasure ;
For often, at noon, when returned from the field,
I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure,

The purest and sweetest that nature can yield.
How ardent I seized it, with hands that were glowing,
And quick to the white pebbled bottom it fell;
Then soon with the emblem of truth overflowing,
And dripping with coolness, it rose from the well:
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,

The moss-covered bucket arose from the well.

How sweet from the green mossy brim to receive it,
As, poised on the curb, it inclined to my lips!
Not a full blushing goblet could tempt me to leave it,
Though filled with the nectar that Jupiter sips.
And now, far removed from the loved situation,
The tear of regret will intrusively swell,
As fancy reverts to my father's plantation,

And sighs for the bucket which hangs in the well;
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,

The moss-covered bucket, which hangs in the well.

RULE FOR THE READING OF REPEATED WORDS.

Clauses containing a word repeated for effect, should be reaa with a force increasing obviously in each clause, See the last two lines of each of the above stanzas.

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EXERCISE XVIII.

MIGRATION OF BIRDS. - Anon.

Of all migrating birds, cranes appear to be endowed with the greatest share of foresight. They never undertake a journey alone throughout a circle of several miles, they appear to communicate the intention of commencing their route. Several days previous to their departure, they call upon each other, by a peculiar cry; as if to give warning to assemble at a central point. The favorable moment. being at length arrived, they betake themselves to flight; and, in military style, fall into two lines, which, uniting at the summit, form an extended angle with two equal sides.

At the central point of the phalanx, the chief takes his station, to whom the whole troop, by their subordination, appear to have pledged their obedience. The commander has not only the painful task of breaking the path through the air; but he has, also, the charge of watching, for the common safety, to avoid the attacks of birds of prey, to range the two lines in a circle, at the approach of a tempest, in order to resist, with more effect, the squalls which menace the dispersion of the linear ranks; and, lastly, it is to their leader that the fatigued company look up, to appoint the most convenient places for nourishment and repose.

Still, important as are the station and functions of the aërial director, their existence is but momentary. As soon as he is sensible of fatigue, he cedes his place to the next in the file, and retires himself to its extremity. During the night, their flight is attended with considerable noise: the loud cries which we then hear seem to be the marching orders of the chief, answered by the ranks who follow his commands.

Wild geese, and several kinds of ducks, also make their aërial voyage, nearly in the same manner as the cranes. The loud call of the passing geese, as they soar securely through the higher regions of the air, is familiar to all; but as an additional proof of their sagacity and caution, we may remark, that when the fogs in the atmosphere render their flight necessarily low, they steal along in silence, as if aware of the dan ger to which their lower path now exposes them.

To assist the efforts of birds, and sustain them through their

long journeys, it is often necessary to borrow the aid of the winds; but that this element may assist, it is proper that it meet them; or be in the reverse of its aid to the navigator. This observation is so far verified, that, to succeed in the chase of birds upon the water, it is necessary to approach them by cutting the wind upon them; consequently, by the disposition of their wings, they are obliged to come towards the boat, which is also at the same time pushed towards them. Our common passenger pigeons, and wild geese, decided migrators, may be observed, when moving in the largest bodies, flying in a path contrary to the wind.

The direction of the winds is, then, of the greatest importance to the migration of birds, not only as an assistance, when favorable, but to be avoided, when contrary, as the most disastrous of accidents, when they are traversing the ocean. If the breeze suddenly change, the aërial voyagers tack to meet it, and, diverging from their original course, seek the asylum of some land or island, as is the case very freqently with the quails; which, consequently, in their passage across the Mediterranean, in variable winds, make a descent, in immense numbers, on the islands of the Archipelago, where they await, sometimes for weeks, the arrival of a propitious gale to terminate their journey. And hence we perceive the object of the migrating birds, when they alight upon a vessel at sea: it has fallen in their course, while seeking refuge from a baffling breeze, or overwhelming storm; and, after a few hours' rest, they wing their way to their previous destination.

That nature has provided ample means to fulfil the wonderful instinct of these feeble but cautious wanderers, appears in every part of their economy. As the period approaches for their general departure, and the chills of autumn begin to be felt, their bodies begin to be loaded with cellular matter; and at no season of the year are the true birds of passage so fat, as at the approach of their migration. Gulls, cranes, and herons are, at this season, loaded with this reservoir of nutriment, which is intended to administer to their support, through their arduous and hazardous voyage. With this natural provision, dormant animals also commence their long and dreary sleep through the winter: a nutritious resource, no less necessary in birds, while engaged in fulfilling the powerful and waking reveries of instinct.

EXERCISE XIX.

SPARE THE LIVES OF BIRDS. G. B. Emerson.

Since the time of the ancients, or a few years in the early lives of our forefathers, insects are the only dangerous and really troublesome class of animals with which men have to contend. Most of the insect tribes are incredibly prolific, so that, if not checked, they would increase to such a degree that there would be no harvest for man to reap, no vegetables to gather, no trees to take shelter under. They are kept in check, not by man, for he could do comparatively nothing against them directly, but by the allies of man, the birds, and the reptiles, and some of the smaller quadrupeds.

There are many species of birds, whose aid is essential to our subsistence, against whom we, ignorantly or perversely, make war, as if they were our enemies. The robin, the black bird, the numerous tribes of warblers which make the woods vocal with their songs, and multitudes of other birds - beautiful, melodious, innocent spend their lives in our service, in doing what we, without their aid, can by no possibility lo, and are, notwithstanding, but too often sacrificed in the cruel and thoughtless sports of boys, or the mistaken precautions of men. Wilson computes that a single pair of redwinged black-birds consume, in a single season of four months, more than twelve thousand grubs. Each of these grubs would have become a perfect insect; and each, on an average, would have produced hundreds of young. Let any one consider how much good is thus done by a single pair of harmless birds, and that there are, perhaps, a million pairs in the State of New York, for instance, every summer, and as many more of each of several other kinds of birds, all equally devoted to the service of man;-and he will form some conception of the extent of their services and of the folly of exterminating them. In this instance, the humanity which would spare them, is at the same time the wisest policy.

RULE FOR THE READING OF DIDACTIC COMPOSITION.

Didactic composition, nema intended for instruction and informa tion, requires a more exact enunciation, stronger emphasis, more decided inflections, longer pauses, and a slower rate of voice, than narrative or descriptive writing.

Their hearts are like its yesty waves,
As bounding and as free.

They whistle when the storm-bird wheels,
In circles, round the mast;

And sing when, deep in foam, the ship
Plows onward to the blast.

What care the mariners for gales?
There's music in their roar,
When wide the berth along the lee,
And leagues of room before.
Let billows toss to mountain heights,
Or sink to chasms low;

The vessel stout will ride it out,
Nor reel beneath the blow.

With streamers down, and canvass furled,

The gallant hull will float
Securely, as on inland lake

A silken-tasselled boat;
And sound asleep some mariners,
And some with watchful eyes,
Will fearless be of dangers dark,
That roll along the skies.

God keep these cheery mariners!
And temper all the gales,

That sweep against the rocky coast,

To their storm-shattered sails;
And men on shore will bless the ship
That could so guided be,

Safe in the hollow of His hand,
To brave the mighty sea!