, with its wonderful tail feathers; the odd
owl-like "morepoke," which screams its own name through the forest
solitudes all night long; glistening bronze-winged pigeons; strange and
gorgeous parrots; and others, to describe which would fill a large
volume. In this locality are nearly a hundred species of birds and
beasts not found in any other portion of the world, and they are all,
with scarcely a single exception, the oddest and strangest of existing
creatures.

[Illustration: A RIDE IN THE PARK.--DRAWN BY P. DE LUGE.]

NED'S SNOW-HOUSE.

A True Story.

Little Ned Bancroft stood by the window, and as he looked at the
fast-falling snow and the sidewalks deeply covered, he thought, "What a
fine time I shall have this afternoon shovelling snow, for it is Friday,
and I shall have no lesson to learn!"

His mamma then called to him, "Come, Ned, it is nearly nine o'clock; you
must start for school."

So off he trudged, delighted with the idea of battling the storm, his
feet well protected with high rubber boots, and his hands covered with
warm mittens made by his loving grandmamma.

Ned was an only child, the pride of his papa and mamma, and the great
pet of aunties and uncles. As for grandmamma, she never tired of kissing
his sweet round little face.

Not long after he had gone to school it stopped snowing, and men with
large shovels were seen in the streets, pulling the door-bells, and
asking, "Want your snow shovelled?"

Mrs. Bancroft engaged one of these men, and ordered him, before cleaning
the sidewalk, to clear up the back yard by shovelling the snow into a
pile in one corner, as Jane wanted to hang out the clothes.

When Ned came home to lunch, he saw with delight the great mound of snow
the man had made, and he resolved to make a house in it when school was
over.

His aunt Lou, who lived in New York, came in on her way to grandmamma's
while Ned and his mamma were eating their lunch, and Ned heard auntie
ask his mother to go with her, and mamma consented, and he heard her
say, "I will not get home before six o'clock." How well he remembered
this remark, some hours afterward, we shall see, but at the moment he
paid little heed to it, as his mind was full of the afternoon's sport.
He kissed them good-by as he left the table, and was soon back at
school, which was only a few blocks off.

Ned was only ten years old, but his mother had taught him to be careful
with his books and toys, and pu