The nests, the hidden nests, were the old garden's secrets, and the garden kept them well. There was a flutter of wings, the bird floated down, and was straightway invisible. Not the tip of a tail or beak was to be seen. Or up flew the bird and was as quickly lost in the thick screen of interwoven leaves overhead. There were certain gray birds so much the color of the dead wood on which they perched that they might have nested in full, open view, and yet have remained unseen until they moved. How the little birds did love this garden—the noisy street on one side, the close, dingy houses on the other, and how near its heart did the old garden keep the birds.
So many and such different birds—yet "not one of them is forgotten before God."—Ella F. Mosby.
BIRDS FORTELL MARRIAGE.
Some of the Prussian girls have an odd way of finding out which of a number will be married first. The girls take some corn and make a small heap of it on the floor, and in it conceal one of their finger rings. A chicken is then introduced and let loose beside the little heaps of corn. Presently the bird begins to eat the grain, and whichever ring is first exposed the owner of it will be the first to marry.
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| From col. Chi. Acad. Sciences. | PRAIRIE HEN. ⅔ Life-size. | Copyright by Nature Study Pub. Co., 1898, Chicago. |
THE PRAIRIE HEN.
