"If an owl would enter the nuthatch's nest
Its figure would have to be much compressed.
If the nuthatch had but the face of an owl
It would be a most unpopular fowl."
A slightly different formula is to be noted in the lines on the snipe,
but the spirit is substantially the same:--
"If a snipe were the size of a threepenny bit
It would be a great deal harder to hit.
But if it grew to the size of an emu
It wouldn't be better to eat than seamew."
Lastly I may quote the only couplet in which beasts as well as birds
are subjected to this searching analysis. I think you will admit that
it is the most sagacious and impressive of them all:--
"If a pig had wings and the legs of a stork
It would damage the quality of its pork,"
Thine, MCDOUGALL POTT.
_Poets' Corner House, Dottyville._
* * * * *
"As a result of trying to find an escape of gas with a light, a
flat in Westminster was seriously damaged."--_Provincial Paper_.
Serve him right.
* * * * *