us till suddenly her eye lighted on Peggy, who
still chewed her pencil awaiting inspiration.

Melisande stopped as though she had been shot; I could only surmise
that the sight of Peggy thus occupied had confirmed her darkest
suspicions. With one wild shriek of terror she fled from the room.

* * * * *

THE NEGLECTED PROBLEM.

O dear and delectable journal that daily
Appeasest my hungering mind
With items recounted or gravely or gaily
Of doings at Margate, Mayfair or Old Bailey,
Or paragraphs rare and refined
On "Who will the forthcoming cinema star be?"
"What horse to support with your shirt for the Derby;"
"How much will the next price of beer at the bar be?"
"Are halibuts blind?"

A question arises I prithee examine
And ponder the pull that it has
Over headings like "Foch and Parisian Gamine,"
"Are Bolshevists _really_ believers in Famine?"
Or "Vocalist Lynched at La Paz."
I look for it oft and in vain and say, "Blow it!
There _must_ be an answer and England should know it."
Here, then, is the problem that's haunting the poet:
_Does Germany Jazz_?

* * * * *

"William Henry ----, aged 110, fell off a tree whilst out
playing with other boys and broke his right leg."--_Provincial
Paper_.

We hope it will be a lesson to him for the rest of his life.

* * * * *

[Illustration: _Gentle Creature (who fancies she has heard the
customary sound of her cat tapping at the window to be let in)._
"NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY ADOLPHUS! COME IN AT ONCE, LIKE A GOOD BOY!"]

* * * * *

BIRD NOTES.

Nature Study has recently been recommended by a well-known Daily
Paper as a means of gradual relaxation from war-worry. Mr. Punch would
therefore like to contribute for so noble an end a few ornithological
notes, having for a long time been addicted to the observation of
bird-life.

CUCKOO.--This bird, which obtained its name on account of the
similarity of its note to that of the Cuckoo-clock, was one of the
earliest sufferers of the housing problem, which it successfully
solved by depositing its eggs in the nests of other birds.

SEAGULL.--When the eggs of this bird are hatched the mother-parent
feeds its young on the glutinous substance that oozes from
sea-weed--hence "Mother Seagull's Syrup."

THROSTLE.--_See_ THRUSH.