ular.
The fish can generally stick its head out of one end, and its tail out
of the other.

When the eggs have been laid in the nest, and the young sticklebacks
have been born, the male fish is said to be very strict and particular
in the government of his children. For some time--while they are yet
very small--(and the father himself is a very little fellow) he makes
them stay in the nest, and if any of them come swimming out, he drives
them back again, and forces them to stay at home until they are of a
proper age to swim about by themselves.

We have now seen quite a variety of nests, and I think that we may
come to this conclusion about their builders:--The bird or other
creature which can carefully select the materials for the home of its
young, can decide what is most suitable for the rough outside and what
will be soft and nice for the inner lining, and can choose a position
for its nest where the peculiar wants and habits of its little ones
can be best provided for, must certainly be credited with a degree of
intelligence which is something more than what is generally suggested
by the term instinct.

[Illustration]

THE BOOMERANG.

Civilized folks are superior in so very many respects to their
barbarous brethren that it is well, when we discover anything which a
savage can do better than we can, to make a note of it, and give the
subject some attention.

And it is certain that there are savages who can surpass us in one
particular--they can make and throw boomerangs.

It is very possible that an American mechanic could imitate an
Australian boomerang, so that few persons could tell the difference;
but I do not believe that boomerang would work properly. Either in the
quality of the wood, or in the seasoning, or in some particular which
we would not be apt to notice, it would, in all probability, differ
very much from the weapon carved out by the savage. If the American
mechanic was to throw his boomerang away from him, I think it would
stay away. There is no reason to believe that it would ever come back.

And yet there is nothing at all wonderful in the appearance of the
real boomerang. It is simply a bent club, about two feet long, smooth
on one side and slightly hollowed out on the other. No one would
imagine, merely from looking at it, that it could behave in any way
differently from any other piece of stick of its size and weight.

But it does behave differently, at least when an Austral