nnot; but Brown can.

Even specialists, however, occasionally make mistakes. A day or two ago,
just as dusk was falling, Brown entered my house in a state of
considerable excitement and informed me that a pair of reed-warblers
were building in my orchard.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Quite," he replied. "I have not actually seen the birds yet, but I have
heard them from my own garden, and of course the note of the nesting
reed-warbler is unmistakable."

"Of course," I agreed.

"It is a most extraordinary occurrence," he continued, "most
extraordinary."

"You mean because there are no reeds there?"

"Exactly."

I was quite certain in my own mind that there were no reed-warblers
either, but I felt it would be impertinent for a layman like myself to
argue with Brown.

"There!" he exclaimed, darting to the open window. "Can't you hear it?"

I listened. "Oh, that," I said; "that's----"

"The mating song of the male reed-warbler," interrupted Brown
ecstatically. "Now, whatever happens, don't let them be disturbed. Don't
even try to find the nest, or you may alarm them. Leave it all to me. I
shan't have a free morning till Saturday, but there's no hurry. I'll
bring my camera round then, and when I've located the spot they're
building in I'll rig up a hiding-place and take some photos. Don't let
anybody go near them; the great thing is to make them feel quite at
home." He was gone before I could explain.

It is rather an awkward situation, because, when Brown comes on Saturday
morning, I am afraid that if he secures any really successful photos
they will prove a disappointment to him. They will represent my
gardener, Williams, trundling a barrow, the wheel of which is badly in
need of oil.

* * * * *

Tercentenarians.

"It is one of the most marvellous of doubles that William
Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes died on the very same day of
the same year--on the 23rd day of April, 1916."

_The Leader (B.E. Africa)._

* * * * *

ROYAL ACADEMY-FIRST DEPRESSIONS.

[Illustration: Gerald Kelly. _The Bird_. "Lucky thing I'm stuffed or I'd
have fallen off this perch long ago!"]

[Illustration: Nurah Cundell. Women Workers on the land playing with
their week's wages. Note the Physical Development Produced by the
open-air life.]

[Illustration: Robert Burns. The lady spy, having finished her
performance of the hymn of hate, sets the