a recital, and thus thousands of birds be saved, and through their influence, protected. In this way, too, might not the whole question of slaughtering birds for millinery purposes be solved, for what mother or sister could turn a deaf ear to the reproaches of a child, or to pleadings from young lips for more humane treatment of their feathered friends? That the small boy is not without wit, and quick to perceive the difference between precept and practice, the following anecdote, I think, will aptly prove: She was smartly dressed, and when she met one of her scholars bearing off a nest in which were five pretty little speckled eggs, she did not hesitate to stop him. "You are a wicked boy," she exclaimed indignantly. "How could you rob the birds of their nest? No doubt, at this very minute, the poor mother is hovering about the tree grieving for the loss of the eggs which you carry." "_Oh, she don't care_," replied the urchin, edging off with a derisive smile, "_she's on your hat_." FEBRUARY. The old, old wonder of the lengthening days Is with us once again; the winter's sun, Slow sinking to the west when day is done, Each eve a little longer with us stays, And cheers the snowy landscape with his rays; Nor do we notice what he has begun Until a month or more of days have run, When we exclaim: "How long the light delays!" So let some kindly deed, however slight, Be daily done by us, that to the waste Of selfishness some light it may impart-- Mayhap not noticed till we feel the night Is less within our souls, and broader-spaced Has grown the cheerful sunshine of the heart. --_Samuel Francis Batchelder._ THE IRIS.