istle a number about her, and then, just as they
were going to possess themselves of her bounty, utter a shrill scream of
"Get out, dogs!" with such vehemence and authority as dispersed the
assembled company without a morsel, to her infinite delight. * * *

11. How wonderful is that instinct by which the bird of passage performs
its annual migration! But how still more wonderful is it when the bird,
after its voyage of thousands of miles has been performed, and new lands
visited, returns to the precise window or eaves where, the summer before,
it first enjoyed existence! And yet, such is unquestionably the fact.

12. Four brothers had watched with indignation the felonious attempts of a
sparrow to possess himself of the nest of a house martin, in which lay its
young brood of four unfledged birds.

13. The little fellows considered themselves as champions for the bird
which had come over land and sea, and chosen its shelter under their
mother's roof. They therefore marshaled themselves with blowguns, to
execute summary vengeance; but their well-meant endeavors brought
destruction upon the mud-built domicile they wished to defend. Their
artillery loosened the foundations, and down it came, precipitating its
four little inmates to the ground. The mother of the children, Good
Samaritan-like, replaced the little outcasts in their nest, and set it in
the open window of an unoccupied chamber.

14. The parent birds, after the first terror was over, did not appear
disconcerted by the change of situation, but hourly fed their young as
usual, and testified, by their unwearied twitter of pleasure, the
satisfaction and confidence they felt. There the young birds were duly
fledged, and from that window they began their flight, and entered upon
life.

15. The next spring, with the reappearance of the martins, came four,
which familiarly flew into the chamber, visited all the walls, and
expressed their recognition by the most clamorous twitterings of joy. They
were, without question, the very birds that had been bred there the
preceding year.

DEFINITIONS.--2. Copse, a grove of small trees or bushes. 4. Sa-ga'cious,
quick in discernment. 6. Im-per'ti-nent, rude, intru-sive. 8. Ken'nel, a
place for dogs. 10. Ve'he-mence, force. 11. Mi-gra'tion, change of place,
removal. 12. Fe-lo'ni-ous, criminal. 13. Dom'i-cile, the home or residence
of anyone. Ar-til'er-y, weapons of warfare. 14. Dis-con-cert'ed,
interrupted, confused. 15. Rec