a look round. I managed to
quiet him by giving him pieces of lump sugar. He arrived safely at the
Crystal Palace, and has lived in an aviary till the beginning of last
month, when he was put into his new bear-pit. The little fellow has
grown twice the size he was when he first came. He is very playful, but
sometimes shows his teeth when he is teased.

[Illustration]

[Illustration: JUST ARRIVED!]

[Illustration]

S--THE SWALLOW.

_Now hovering on rapid wing,
Now down to earth, now high,
And, circling round in airy ring
To chase the painted fly._

[Illustration]

T--THE TIGER.

_Fiercest of all the beasts of prey,
With eyes that glow like fire,
And glossy hide, who does not dread
The Tiger, yet admire?_

[Illustration]

U--THE URSINE OPOSSUM.

_In hollow trees the Opossum lives,
And slumbers through the day,
But when the shades of night descend,
Goes forth in search of prey._

A SINGULAR HABIT OF THE WOODCOCK.

Among several curious habits of the woodcock, described by the editor of
the _Zoologist_, its practice of carrying its young is perhaps the most
interesting. The testimony of many competent witnesses is cited to
corroborate the statement. The late L. Lloyd, in his "Scandinavian
Adventures," wrote, "If, in shooting, you meet with a brood of
woodcocks, and the young ones cannot fly, the old bird takes them
separately between her feet, and flies from the dogs with a moaning
cry."

The same author makes a similar statement in another work, this habit of
the woodcock having been observed by a friend.

One of the brothers Stuart gives, in "Lays of the Deer Forest," a
graphic account of the performance. He says, "As the nests are laid on
dry ground, and often at a distance from moisture, in the latter case,
as soon as the young are hatched, the old bird will sometimes carry them
in her claws to the nearest spring or green strip. In the same manner,
when in danger, she will rescue those which she can lift; of this we
have frequent opportunities for observation in Tarnaway. Various times
when the hounds, in beating the ground, have come upon a brood, we have
seen the old bird rise with the young one in her claws and carry it
fifty or a hundred yards away."

THE SKY-LARK

Has any one ever told you that they were "happy as a lark," and have you
stopped to think how happy a lark is?--its joyous flight up into the
sky, as high or higher than the si