frequently chased, escape? What happened to the dogs that went after him? What did the huntsmen, on exploring the place, discover? By what means did the fox get into the hole? What baffles the cunning of the fox? What did the huntsmen do? What happened to Reynard after this?

EXCEPTIONS.

Meas'-ures whose Dr. u'-su-al-ly fa-mil-iar rogu'ish af-front' dozen lei'-sure cuc'-koo ac-com'-pa-ny double.

THE WOLF.

This animal, from the tip of the nose to the insertion of the tail, is about three feet and a half long, and about two feet five inches high. His colour is a mixture of black, brown, and gray; and his hair is ex-treme-ly rough and hard, but mixed toward the roots with a kind of ash-coloured fur. The eyes open slantingly upwards, in the same di-rec'-tion with the nose; and the colour of the eye-balls is of a fi'-er-y green, which gives a fierce and formidable air to the whole visage.

The fe'-male wolf pro-du'-ces five or six at a litter. These she suckles for some time, and teaches them betimes to eat flesh, which she prepares for them by chew'-ing it first herself. She also fre'-quent-ly brings them young hares and birds, while yet alive; which she tears into pieces, and dis-trib'-utes in e'-qual shares. When the cubs are about six weeks, or two months old, their dam leads them to drink at the trunk of some decayed tree, where the water has settled, or at some pool in the neigh'-bour-hood;

but on the appearance of danger, she carries them back to their native den.

EXERCISES.-What are the length and height of the wolf? What is his colour? What is the colour of his eye-balls? How many does the female wolf produce at a litter? What does she frequently bring them? How old are the cubs when their dam leads them to drink? What does she do on the appearance of danger?

THE EAGLE.

This noble and ma-jes'-tic creature has always been considered as the king of birds, on account of its su-pe'-ri-or strength, cour'-age, and ra-pid'-i-ty of flight. These qual'-i-ties, added to the dig'-ni-ty of its appearance, the elevation to which it soars, and the terror it strikes into all the rest of the feath'ered tribe, appear to render it de-serv'-ing of the royal ti'-tle.

The golden eagle is in length, from the point of its beak to the end of its tail, about three feet six inches, its breadth, when the wings are expanded, is about seven feet. The bill is horny, hook'-ed, and very strong. The feathers of the neck are of a rusty colour, and the rest are dark brown, approaching to black, in-ter-mixed' with some much lighter. The eye of the eagle is won'-der-ful-ly formed. To give its sight the greatest per-fec'-tion, it has a double pair of eye'-lids, which move in-de-pen'-dent of each other; and the powers of the eye are so great that it can gaze stead'-fast-ly at the sun without blinking. The feet are feathered down to the claws,

and have a sur-pri-sing grasp. Each leg is yellow-ish, and its four talons are crook'-ed and strong.

Eagles de-vour with eagerness flesh of all kinds, but will not eat pu'-trid car'-cass-es. The field of battle and slaughter is sure to be its early haunt, where it delights to prey upon those bodies which have been late-ly slain. In its flight after food, it will pounce upon a goose or a turkey, and has fre'quent-ly been known to seize young lambs, kids, and even fawns, which it destroys for the sake of drinking their blood. Its disposition, however, is so noble that it never de-scends' to make a prey of the smaller, and harmless birds, considering them beneath' its notice. Its craving after food is so great, that a large extent of country is nec'-es-sa-ry to satisfy its wants. The wisdom of Providence is, therefore, evident in making it a solitary creature, for two pairs of these vo-ra-cious birds are never found in the same neighbourhood, though eagles have been met with in every quarter of the world.

The nest of the eagle is large, and composed of strong sticks covered with rushes, and is generally built upon the point of some high rock, from whence his keen eyes survey the country round, and on discovering his prey, he darts upon it with the quickness of lightning. These birds are remarkable for the length of their lives, some having been known to reach the term of one hundred years.

ANECDOTES OF THE EAGLE.

Sir Robert Sibbald relates, that a woman in the Orkney Islands having left her child, of about one year old, in a field, while she went to some distance, an eagle passing by, took up the infant by its clothes, and carried it to her nest, on a neighbouring rock, which being observed by some fishermen, they instantly pursued the eagle, attacked her nest, and brought back the child unhurt.

Another cir-cum-stance is re-la'-ted of a peasant, who had resolved to rob the nest of an eagle that had been built in a small island in the beautiful Lake of Killarney, in Ireland. He accordingly stripped and swam to the island while the old ones were away, and having robbed the nest of its young, he was pre-pa'-ring to swim back with the young eagles tied in a string; but while he was yet up to the chin in water, the old eagles returned, and missing their young, quickly e-spied' and fell upon the plunderer, and in spite of all his re-sis'-tance, they killed him with their beaks and talons.

EXERCISES. As what has the eagle always been considered? On what account? What do these qualities appear to render it deserving of? What are the length and breadth of the golden eagle? What kind of bill has it? What is said of the powers of its eye? What place is sure to be its early haunt? What animals does it frequently seize? For what purpose? What does it never descend to make a prey of? In what is the wisdom of Providence evident? Of what is the eagle's nest composed? Where is it generally built? For what are these birds remarkable? How long have some of them been known to live ?

What did an eagle do to a woman's child in the Orkney Islands? Who observed this? What did they do? What did a peasant resolve to do? How did he get to the island? Did he rob the What happened when he was yet up to the chin in water?

nest ?

THE OSTRICH.

The os'-trich is the largest of birds. It often meas'-ures more than fourteen feet in height, and as many in length, from the tip of the beak to the end of the tail. Its head is small, and, as well as the greater part of the neck, is flesh-coloured, and clothed only with scattered hairs. The lower parts of the neck and the body are covered with black feathers, whose webs are pe-cu-li-ar-ly light and crisped: the feathers of the tail and wings are white, of a beautiful appearance, and sometimes tipped or edged with black. The wings have each two spurs.

The breast is armed with a hard callous substance. The body of the female is brown.

This bird inhabits the burning sandy deşerts of Asia and Africa. Ostriches often assemble in great flocks, and commit ter'-ri-ble hav'-oc among the corn fields in the in-te'-ri-or of the country, about the Cape of Good Hope. In some parts of Asia, they are so nu-mer-ous as to be sometimes mistaken for troops of roving Arabs.

The ostrich subsists upon veg'-e-ta-bles; but it is ex-ceed'-ing-ly vo-ra'-cious, and will devour almost any thing that comes in its way. It will swallōw leather, cord, glass, iron, lead, tin, stones, and a great va-ri'-e-ty of other in-di-ges'-ti-ble matters. These often prove fatal to it.

Each male ostrich is u-ni-ted to from two to five

H