wflakes.'

"'I never heard of snowflakes. Are they birds or beasts?' asked the
butterfly.

"'They are snowflakes,' answered the spirit of the sky, 'but they are
magic snowflakes. Watch them closely.'

"The swallow and the butterfly watched. Every snowflake showed two
bright eyes, then two long ears, then some soft feet, and there were the
whitest, softest little hares that were ever seen."

"Were we the little white hares?" asked the listeners.

"You were the little white hares," answered the spirit, "and if you are
gentle and good, you will always be white."

The hares were not gentle and good; they were fretful, and before long
they were scolding and fighting again. The gentle spirit was angry. "I
must get a firebrand and beat them with it," he said, "for they must
learn to be good."

So the hares were beaten with the firebrand till their ears were black
as night. Their bodies were still white, but if the spirit hears them
scolding and fighting again, it may be that we shall see their bodies as
black as their ears.

WHY THE MAGPIE'S NEST IS NOT WELL BUILT.

A long time ago all the birds met together to talk about building nests.

"Every Indian has a wigwam," said the robin, "and every bird needs a
home."

"Indians have no feathers," said the owl, "and so they are cold without
wigwams. We have feathers."

"I keep warm by flying swiftly," said the swallow.

"And I keep warm by fluttering my wings," said the humming-bird.

"By and by we shall have our little ones," said the robin. "They will
have no feathers on their wings, so they cannot fly or flutter; and they
will be cold. How shall we keep them warm if we have no nests?"

Then all the birds said, "We will build nests so that our little ones
will be warm."

The birds went to work. One brought twigs, one brought moss, and one
brought leaves. They sang together merrily, for they thought of the
little ones that would some time come to live in the warm nests.

Now the magpie was lazy, and she sat still and watched the others at
their work.

"Come and build your nest in the reeds and rushes," cried one bird, but
the magpie said "No."

"My nest is on the branch of a tree," called another, "and it rocks like
a child's cradle. Come and build beside it," but the magpie said "No."

Before long all the birds but the magpie had their nests built. The
magpie cried, "I do not know how to build a nest. Will you not help me?"

The other birds were