majesty of Alcohol,
And, spite of Horsley,
Indulge quite coarsely
In panegyrics of dry Monopole--

For consolation
In our vexation
The news from Mexico we gladly hail,
Learning how Villa
Shuns Manzanilla
And only slakes his thirst with Adam's ale.

No wonder Wilson
The beer of Pilsen
Regards as liquid death within the pot,
When even a bandit
Can't stick or stand it,
And gibes at Huerta as an aged sot!

Let senile soakers
And jaded jokers
Their bottle-noses still incarnadine,
But we, with Villa,
Prefer Vanilla
Or Sarsaparilla to the choicest wine.

Port, brandy, sherry
Make idiots merry--
They're little use when civil wars begin;
Men who can slaughter
Upon barley-water
Are in the long run always bound to win.

* * * * *

NATURE STUDY.

The following letter may have been noticed in the columns of _The Daily
Eye_ some weeks ago:--

_The Lilac Grove_,
_Moonvale Park, S.E._

Sir,--On looking out of my bedroom window this morning at 6 o'clock I
observed a cuckoo eating ripe strawberries in the garden next but one to
mine. It occurs to me that for a cuckoo to be in a suburban garden
eating ripe strawberries so early in the year as April 15 is somewhat
unusual. Can you tell me whether this has ever been known before?

Yours etc.,
Augustus Quest.

We understand that the following further letter has been sent to the
Editor of _The Daily Eye_ by the writer of the above, but has not
appeared in print:--

Sir,--Some days ago I sent you a letter in which I mentioned that on
April 15th a cuckoo was seen eating ripe strawberries in the garden next
but one to mine, and asking whether you could tell me if anything of the
kind had been known before. But up to the present I have received no
reply. The only result of my letter has been the receipt of a number of
circulars announcing works on the subjects of nature study and fruit
culture. From a publisher's announcement which has been sent to me,
giving specimen pages from "How to Tell Our Feathered Friends at a
Glance," I discover that the bird I saw in my neighbour's garden could
not possibly have been a cuckoo, its body being altogether too small.
And in conversation with my neighbour in the train this morning I learnt
that his garden does not contain strawberr