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days old, this cavity is quite filled up, and the back resumes the shape of nestling birds in general.

"Having found that the old hedge-sparrow commonly throws out some of her own eggs, after her nest has received the cuckoo, and not knowing how she might treat her young ones, if the cuckoo were deprived of the power of dispossessing them of the nest, I made the following experiment:-A young cuckoo, that had been hatched by a hedge-sparrow about four hours, was confined in the nest in such a manner that it could not possibly turn out the young ones, which were hatched at the same time, though it was almost incessantly making attempts to do so. The consequence was, that the old bird fed the whole alike, and appeared to pay the same attention to all, until the nest was unfortunately plundered."

Here are many indications of the wisdom with which all the details of the works of God are arranged! One is, the selection, by the parent, of the nest of a bird which feeds its young with insects; for as the fosterparent can only present to its bantling the same kind of food it procures for its own offspring, if this were uncongenial to it, it could not be reared. Then the small size of the strange egg probably prevents the detection of the imposition, until the hatching of the young; after which, the impulse of parental affection is drawn towards it. The exorbitant demand made by the appetite of so large a chick, renders it needful that their exertions be bestowed upon it alone; so that the expulsion of the other eggs, or young, is a provision of mercy towards the parent birds. The same instinct also explains the reason why the nests chosen by the parent cuckoo are those of small birds. If the depth of the nest were great, the

strength of the young cuckoo would be unequal to throwing out the eggs or birds, and the same difficulty would exist if the nestlings to be ejected were not much smaller than itself. Dr. Jenner remarks, that the short residence this bird is allowed to make in the country where it is destined to propagate its species, and the call that nature has upon it, during that short residence, to produce a numerous progeny, may explain its deviation from the ordinary domestic instincts and habits of birds. Gosse.

LESSON LIII.-THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH.

Under a spreading chesnut tree

The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,

With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.

His hair is crisp, and black, and long,

His face is like the tan;

His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate'er he can,

And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.

Week in, week out, from morn till night,
You can hear his bellows blow;

You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
With measured beat and slow,

Like the sexton ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low.

And the children coming home from school

Look in at the open door;

They love to see the flaming forge,

And hear the bellows roar,

And catch the burning sparks that fly

Like chaff from the threshing-floor.

He goes on Sunday to the church,
And sits among his boys;

He hears the parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter's voice

Singing in the village choir,

And it makes his heart rejoice.

It sounds to him like her mother's voice,

Singing in paradise!

He needs must think of her once more,
How in the grave she lies;

And with his hard, rough hand he wipes
A tear out of his, eyes.

Toiling, rejoicing,—sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begun,
Each evening sees it close;
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night's repose.

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,

For the lesson thou hast taught!

Thus at the flaming forge of life

Our fortunes must be wrought;

Thus on its sounding anvil shaped

Each burning deed and thought.-Longfellow.

K

LESSON LIV.-RIVERS.

Rivers rise in elevated districts, and flow thence in various directions towards the sea. The high land or ridge between the sources of the rivers, which flow in opposite directions through a country, is called the water-shed; the tract of country, which sends its waters into any great river, is called the basin of that river. Europe may be described as having two leading watersheds: one in the region of the Alps, and the mountains on the south-west of Germany; the other extending in a winding course from the west of the Carpathian range, north-east through Russia.

Rivers form an important part of that grand natural circulation of water, constantly going on through air, earth, and ocean. The waters of the great lakes, seas, and oceans, being raised into the atmosphere in vapour by the influence of solar heat, are wafted over the land by winds, and condensed and precipitated on the earth's surface; and the water which has descended in rain, or been deposited as dew, or collected by the melting of hail, snow, hoar-frost, and ice flows along the surface in streams or rivulets, which unite and form rivers, which pour their waters into other rivers, great lakes, or the sea; or it sinks into the ground, penetrates through porous strata till it meets some obstruction, when it accumulates, or takes some other course, and bursts out in springs.

Rivers generally run at right angles to the mountainchains from whose upper ridges they flow; and from the arrangement of the leading mountain-chains, the greater number of large rivers flow from west to east towards the ocean; some to north or south; few towards

the west. They carry down with them a large quantity of solid matter in suspension, by the wearing away of their beds. This is deposited when their velocity becomes small; when they overflow their banks; and in large beds of a somewhat triangular form at their mouths, called deltas.

Many rivers periodically overflow their banks, as the Ganges, the Indus, the Nile, the Mississippi. This phenomenon occurs chiefly in the torrid zone, and is caused by the sudden and heavy rains which fall there in the wet season; or by the melting of snows on the mountains. The latter cause operating suddenly, often gives rise to floods in other districts. The rivers in northern Asia are often flooded, from their lower portions near the Arctic Ocean being still bound up in ice, while their sources are opened up and replenished by the influence of summer. The American continent, though comparatively narrow, has the largest rivers in the world, as the Maranon or Amazon, and the Mississippi, and a great number in proportion to the extent of land; Africa is scantily supplied with rivers; Arabia is nearly river less.

Rivers form striking features in natural scenery, and effect important changes on the earth's surface. They restore to the ocean the superfluous water not needed for the fertilization of the land, and by gathering the surface water into channels, render the countries on their banks dry and salubrious. They wear down the solid matter of the globe, and transport it to the bed of the deep, or deposit it as a rich alluvial soil on their banks. The influence of their moisture promotes vegetation, and moderates temperature in their vicinity. They afford to mankind never failing supplies of fresh water, and solid

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