ff chained; I went up to the dog and patted him on the head, when
out rushed the groom from the stable exclaiming, "Come away, sir! He's
dangerous with strangers." But I did not remove my hand nor show any
fear. The consequence was, that the dog and I were the best of friends;
but had I shown any fear, and hastily removed my hand, I might have
fared rather badly, for this dog always couples fear with guilt.

[Illustration]

THE CUNNING WOOD-PIGEONS.

One who loves our feathered friends has described a curious instance of
their instinct. On the back lawn at a gentleman's house, they have a
feeding-box for the pheasants, which opens on their perching upon it,
but remains shut if any lesser bird than a hen pheasant perches there,
which saves the contents from the thefts of these, and of rats, mice,
and other vermin. But the gentleman discovered that the contents of the
box was being more rapidly emptied than the wants of the pheasants
warranted. So he kept a watch on the box, and soon discovered a
wood-pigeon perch on the box, but his weight not being sufficient to
open the lid, he beckoned to another pigeon, and their combined weight
made the lid fly open, and after each had taken what they required, they
flew away, and the box closed with a "click."

[Illustration]

SEA REPTILES.

There were in the sea in very ancient times--long before the flood--two
very large and wonderful reptiles. Of them we present striking
illustrations. One of them has been named the Ichthyosaurus, which means
Fish Reptile. Its head somewhat resembled that of the crocodile, except
that the orbit was much larger, and had the nostril placed close to it,
as in the whale, and not near the end of the snout. It had four paddles
and a powerful tail, and was very active in its movements and a rapid
swimmer.

The other huge reptile was the Plesiosaurus, the meaning of which is
"Near to a Reptile." Its structure was very singular and its character
very strange. In the words of Buckland: "To the head of a lizard, it
united the teeth of the crocodile, a neck of enormous length, resembling
the body of a serpent, a trunk and a tail of the size of an ordinary
quadruped, the ribs of a chameleon, and the paddles of a whale."

[Illustration]

SWISS MOUNTAIN SCENERY.

In Switzerland, one of the chief employments of the people is that of
herdsmen and shepherds, and nearly the half of the surface of the
country is occupied as moun