,' as they are
called, cleaved the air like the wings of a bird, and kept up a steady
flight for a minute and a half.

[Illustration: "The bottle stood in the air as though hanging there."]

Somewhat similar in outward design is the huge mechanical bird built by
Sir Hiram Maxim. Broad stretches of canvas are arranged horizontally one
above the other, tilting a little upwards in front. Instead of legs and
feet, this strange bird has wheels running on rails. When the machine is
put in motion it skims over the rails at a great speed, and the effort
made by the 'aeroplanes' to climb the air shows a great power of flight.
But the machine is prevented from leaving the rails by a second pair of
small wheels running on the under-side, and the strain on these wheels
shows the strength of the giant wings; for Sir Hiram Maxim's only object
is to prove that aerial ships built in such a way would have great
buoyancy. A number of them, in a modified form, have been fitted to a
'giant longstride,' and many of the London boys and girls who have been
to the Exhibitions (at Earl's Court and elsewhere), where the longstride
stands, know something of the principle of the flying machine.

But, after all, the greatest successes in human flight have been won in
fancy. And here again, the honour belongs to France, for what more
entrancing journey was ever made than that taken by the passengers in
the late Jules Verne's 'Clipper of the Clouds?' Built in the form of an
ocean-goer, but with large screws worked horizontally at the summits of
the masts, this flying ship made a journey round the world, visiting the
most distant countries, for when the broad, blue sky is the road no
obstacle can lie in the way. True, when the enchanting book is ended, we
know that it was only a dream, yet we must remember that many of the
great French author's dreams have been realised before now.

JOHN LEA.

[Illustration: "'Every day he went out and brought me in a hare or a
rabbit.'"]

ANIMAL MAKESHIFTS.

True Anecdotes.

VI.--READY-MADE HOMES.

When men first made houses, with a view to their own comfort, they
little thought that they were providing a ready-made home for a host of
outsiders, who took so readily to our quarters that we wonder where they
can have lived before. How did the stork get on without his chimney, the
merry sparrow without his gutter, the clothes-moth without cupboards,
the house-spider without dirty corners and ceilings?