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First, A bird is an animal.
Secondly, It has two legs.
Thirdly, It has two wings.
Fourthly, It has feathers.
Fifthly, It has a hard, glossy bill.

27. And now, said the teacher, you see that I was right when I told you
that I had a hard question to ask you, when I asked What is a bird?

28. Now, if you will join all of these things which belong to a bird in
the description which you give in answer to my question, What is a bird,
you will then give a correct definition of a bird,--that is, you will
tell exactly what a bird is, and no more, and no less.

29. A bird is an animal covered with feathers, having two legs, two
wings, and a hard, glossy bill.

30. When you are asked what anything is, recollect what I have told you
about a bird, and try to recall everything that you ever knew about the
thing, and in this way you will be able to give a satisfactory answer.

31. This will also teach you to think, and that is one of the most
important objects for which you go to school. It will enable you also to
understand what you read; and you can always read those things best
which you understand well.

LESSON XII.

_Reading and Spelling._

1. Another important thing for which you go to school is to learn how to
spell. It is not always very easy to spell, because there are so many
different ways in which the same letters are pronounced in different
words.

2. That you may understand what I mean, I shall give an example, to show
you how many different ways the same letters are pronounced in different
words; and also another example, to show you how many different ways
there are of spelling the same syllable.

3. To show you, first, in how many different ways the same letters are
pronounced in different words, I shall take the letters o, u, g, h.

4. The letters _o, u, g, h_, are sounded or pronounced like the letter
_o_ alone, in the word _though_. The letters _o, u, g, h_, are
pronounced like _uf_, in the word _tough_.

5. In the word _cough_, the letters _o, u, g, h_, are pronounced like
_off_. In the words _slough_ and _plough_, the letters _o, u, g, h_, are
pronounced like _ow_; and in the word _through_, they are pronounced
like _ew_, or like _u_.

6. In the word _hiccough_ the letters _ough_ are pronounced like
_up_--and in the word _lough_, the letters are pronounced like _lok_.

7. There are many words which end with a sound like _shun_; and this
syllable is spelled in m