w was named Petrel, after the
Apostle Peter, because he is most often seen walking on the waves--never
in them, but just daintily skimming their surface.

To sailors they are "Mother Carey's chickens," and their presence is
dreaded, because with them generally come storms and bad weather. They
revel in storms, and the fiercer the gale and the higher the waves, the
more merry are they. This preference of the petrel is explained by the
fact that he is more than half nocturnal in his habits, and greatly
dislikes the glare of sunshine. But when black clouds and gloomy mists
hang low over the ocean, the semi-darkness just suits him, and through
it may he be seen skimming the angry billows many leagues from the
nearest land.

The inhabitants of some of the outlying Scotch islands make a peculiar
use of the young petrels, which are always as fat as butter, and much
more easy to catch than the old birds. The young bird is caught, killed,
and a wick is passed through his body until it projects from the bill.
When this wick is lighted it gradually draws every drop of oil out of
the well-supplied little reservoir, and thus a lamp is formed, very
cheaply and easily, that lasts and gives a good light for the whole of a
long winter's evening.

[Illustration: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE AT THE AGE OF TWELVE.]

SHAKESPEARE.

William Shakespeare was born at Stratford, on the Avon, April 23, 1564,
and was baptized on the 26th. Two months after his birth the plague
swept over the pleasant village, carrying off a large part of the
inhabitants. The danger that hung over the marvellous infant passed
away, and he grew up healthy and strong. His mother, Mary Arden,
inherited a large farm at Wilmecote, a mile from Stratford; and his
father, John Shakespeare, who held several other pieces of land, was
probably an active farmer, raising sheep, and perhaps cattle. The house
in which it is said Shakespeare was born is still shown in Henley
Street, Stratford--a plain building of timber and plaster, covered with
the names of those who have come from every part of the world to visit
the dark, narrow room made memorable by the poet's birth.

He had several younger brothers--Gilbert, Richard, Edmund, and a sister
Joan--all of whom he aided in his prosperity. The family in Henley
Street was a happy one; and the young Shakespeares and their sister
probably wandered in the flowery fields around the Avon, or lived on the
farm at Wilmecote, saw the co