“When you please, Frank,” said Uncle Thomas. “Suppose we say to-morrow night; perhaps that will suit the convenience of the young ladies.”
“Oh, quite, Uncle Thomas!” said Mary; “it will be quite convenient for us whenever it is so to you.” Mama having given her assent to this arrangement, the little party, full of smiles, bade Uncle Thomas good morning.
On the following evening, accordingly, they again met, and when they had duly greeted their kind old Uncle Thomas, and seated themselves round his elbow-chair, he began:—
“Birds, my dear children, of which I promised to tell you some stories, are perhaps the most interesting class of animals in creation, whether we consider them in regard to their habits or to the curious structure of their bodies, by which they have been fitted by Nature for the place which God has assigned them, or to the Instincts which have been implanted in them. In most minds their recollection is associated with all that is most beautiful and romantic in natural scenery. We meet with them in our walks, chirping and frolicking among the village hedgerows, or see them soaring, with almost untiring wing, high above the mountain tops, or hear their solitary voices as they make the wide-spreading and desolate moor seem even more lonely with their harsh and far-sounding notes. Wherever we direct our steps we are sure to find Birds enlivening and cheering the scene, or adding fresh interest by their varied and characteristic occupations. There are few indeed who cannot say with Cowper:—
“Ten thousand warblers cheer the day, and one
The live-long night; nor those alone whose notes
Nice-fingered art must emulate in vain;
But cawing rooks, and kites, that swim sublime
In still repeated circles, screaming loud;