ckle of satisfaction; and before the dog
arrived, all the best bits had been secured by his cunning rivals.

THE EAGLE'S NEST.

Magnificent as the eagle is in appearance, he certainly does not, on the
score of intellect, deserve the rank he holds as king of birds. Except
that he will fight bravely now and then for his young, I know of no good
quality he possesses.

A countryman in the Highlands, to whose farmyard an eagle had paid
several unwelcome visits, carrying off ducklings and chickens,
determined to have his revenge. Sallying forth, gun in hand, he climbed
up the rocky side of a neighbouring mountain, when he saw, high above
him, the nest of the eagle. Shouting loudly, he discovered that neither
of the parents were at home. Taking off his shoes, he was ascending
towards the nest, when, about halfway up, while he was standing on a
ledge, holding on tightly to a rock, he espied a hen eagle rapidly
approaching, with a supply of food in her beak. Immediately, and with a
terrible scream, she darted towards the intruder. Unable to defend
himself, he expected to have his eyes torn out, when he let go, and
slipped to a broader ledge. Again the eagle pounced upon him; and so
close was she, that even then he could not get a shot at her. In
desperation, he took off his bonnet and threw it at the bird. She,
seeing it fall, immediately followed it to the foot of the rock. This
gave him an opportunity of bringing his gun to bear on her. The shot
took effect, and she fell dead far below him.

THE TAME ROBINS.

What interesting, confiding little birds are the robin redbreasts of our
own dear England!

It was summer-time. An old lady lay in bed suffering from her last
illness. The bed was of large size, with a roof and four posts, the
foot of it being not far from the window. The lattice, with its diamond
panes, was open from morn till eve; and as the old lady thus lay calm
and composed, and often alone, she observed a pair of robins enter by
the window and fly round the corner of the roof of her bed. Chirruping
to each other, they seemed to agree that just inside of the bed would be
a nice spot for building their nest. Away they flew, and soon returned
with straws and little sticks. Thus they quickly had a cozy little nest
constructed in a secure position, which no bird of prey or marauding cat
was likely to reach.

The lady would on no account allow of their being disturbed, and they
had free ingress a