A bird appears a thoughtless thing,
He's ever living on the wing,
And keeps up such a carolling,
That little else to do but sing
A man would guess had he.
No doubt he has his little cares,
And very hard he often fares;
The which so patiently he bears,
That, listening to those cheerful airs,
Who knows but he may be
In want of his next meal of seeds?
I think for _that_ his sweet song pleads;
If so, his pretty art succeeds.
I'll scatter there among the weeds
All the small crumbs I see.
* * * * *
We very seldom take up a book only to break the tenth commandment;
but Bayard Taylor's recent volume, "The Boys of Other Countries,"
published by the Putnams, always has that effect upon us, for we wish
that every one of the stories in it had been written for ST. NICHOLAS.
The best thing we can say to our boys and girls, of a book so well
described by its title, is that it contains "Jon of Iceland," which
originally appeared in this magazine, and that each of the stories is
as good in its way as "Jon" itself.
* * * * *