's egg. When he walks he seems as large as a man's
double fists. What a fellow to meet on a narrow pathway! I think most
people would be polite enough to let him have the whole of the walk.
Little Miss Muffett would have been scared out of her senses if such a
huge spider had "sat down beside her."

SPECIAL DISPATCH.

The Little Schoolma'am says Thomson didn't say "_Hail_, gentle Spring!"
He said, "Come, gentle Spring!" Dear, dear! I beg his pardon. But, like
as not, some other poet said it, if Thomson didn't. Or perhaps they've
sung so much about Spring that March, taking it all to herself, thinks
she may as well blow her own trumpet, too.

Poor March! In old times she used to be the first month of the
year,--and now she is only the third. May be, that is what troubles
her. Nobody likes to be put back in that way.

ABOUT PARROTS.

Deacon Green was talking about parrots the other day. He said he once
knew a parrot that was not as polite as "Pippity," the one mentioned in
a story called "Tower-Mountain." The parrot that he knew would swear
whenever he opened his bill. It had been taught by the sailors on board
the ship in which it had come from South America. When the deacon knew
it, it belonged to the widow of a very strict minister. It had been
brought to her by her nephew, a midshipman, as a Christmas present. It
was lucky for him, just then, that the old lady was stone deaf. She was
very cross with the neighbors when they told her what wicked words the
bird used. It was a great pet, and she would not believe anything bad
about it. But at last it swore at a visitor who was a bishop, and soon
after, it was no more.

Since the Deacon told that story I have had a paragram about another
parrot; one that lived in Edinburgh, Scotland, five years ago. This one
could laugh, weep, sing songs, make a noise like "smacking the lips,"
and talk. His talking was not merely by rote; he would speak at the
right times, and say what was just right to be said then and there. He
spoke the words plainly, bowed, nodded, shook his head, winked, rolled
from side to side, or made other motions suited to the sense of what he
was saying. His voice was full and clear, and he could pitch it high or
low, and make it seem joyful or sad. Many curious tales, are told of
him, but the most remarkable thing about him is that he actually lived
and really did the things named.

That's what the paragram says. Stop--let me think a moment. May be