rive her little troop of
chicks into the shelter of a rabbit-hole with her wings, out of the way
of a hawk whose shadow had fallen on the grass at their side. Here she
kept them prisoners till all was safe.

[Illustration: "The fawn caught hold of its mother, clasping her neck."]

The lesson to be drawn from such stories is that even wild, untaught
creatures do not use their limbs in a senseless way as parts of a
machine, without thinking, but are able to turn them to a variety of
uses in times of difficulty. We shall, of course, find that tame animals
such as the horse, dog, and cat act more wisely in such ways than their
wild relations. The dog, for instance, turns his rough idea of using his
mouth for carrying food or young ones, to fetching and carrying for his
own benefit or his master's. A handsome brown spaniel lately noticed
that his mistress, in carrying a bowl of water, upset some of the
contents on the floor. Off dashed Master Jack, intent on 'making himself
generally useful,' and quickly returned with the house flannel from the
kitchen. This he laid beside the pool, with an intelligent, uplifted
look which said, 'There! wipe it up.' Did not this sensible fellow's
mouth become a splendid makeshift hand, and his glance an excellent
speech?

EDITH CARRINGTON.

THE PITCHER-PLANT.

The leaves and flowers of plants often grow into very strange shapes.
The flowers of various kinds of orchids are very remarkable for the
peculiar forms which they take. Some of them have a great resemblance to
bees, flies, or butterflies, and this resemblance is at times so great
that we wonder whether it is only an accidental likeness, or whether it
serves some useful purpose. One of the oddest shapes which any plant
takes, however, is that of the leaves of the pitcher-plant; and in this
case naturalists, who have studied the plant carefully, are able to show
us that the strange shape of the leaf really serves a purpose.

The pitcher-plants are most abundant in the islands of Borneo, Java, and
Sumatra, and in the Malay Peninsula. Though not so plentiful elsewhere,
they are also found in Ceylon, Madagascar, the Moluccas, and one or two
other places. The plant is a kind of creeping or climbing shrub which
runs along the ground, or climbs up other shrubs and short trees. It
seems to thrive best upon the mountaintops, and the summits of the
mountains of Borneo are often gaily decked with it.

There are thirty or forty dif