is
father of the man," and no apter illustration of this truth could be
found than the cuckoo. Let us trace his early life history, and to begin
with, peep into, say, a wagtail's nest. It contains a few eggs all
seemingly alike. In due time they are hatched, and you at once notice
that one of the baby birds is quite different from the rest. It is
blind, naked, yellowish, and ugly, and ere long will prove itself a
monster. How did it come to be born there? Well, you must know that it
is a young cuckoo.

[Illustration: THE CUCKOO'S FAG. (_See p. 52._)]

Now, its mother has several bad habits. For instance, she does not make
a nest, but lays her egg on the ground, and then places it in a nest
where there are others like the one she has laid. She is cunning, you
see, as well as lazy and cruel; for she has, like a thief in the night,
introduced into an innocent home a real tyrant. The young cuckoo soon
reveals its true character. It begins by edging the wee wagtails to the
side of the nest and then turning them out one by one. Of course the
little things thus thrown over fall to the ground and die, but even if
some kind person were to restore them to their home, they would be again
bundled out in the same brutal fashion. Having got rid of the children
of the rightful owners of the nest the ruthless sneak speedily cries for
food; and the parents of the ejected birds actually tend this glutton
with the greatest diligence. The young cuckoo is ever gaping for food,
and for weeks the poor foster-parents are kept hard at work to supply
its hunger. Why do they do so? Probably because they regard it as one of
their own offspring, though they may have a sort of instinctive notion
that there's something wrong; and so the weary round of fagging goes on
until the cuckoo takes itself off to start life on its own account. So
greedy, lazy, and thoroughly selfish, however, is this bird that after
it has outgrown its nest, and is quite able to provide for itself, it
will still look to its industrious comrades for its meals.

The Greatest Whirlpool in the World.

Off the coast of Norway, close to the Lofoden Islands, the current runs
so strong north and south for six hours and then in the opposite
direction for a similar period, that the water is thrown into tremendous
whirls. This is the far-famed Maelstrom, or whirling-stream. The
whirlpool is most active at high and low tide, and when the winds are
contrary the disturbance of the sea