I licked her ears for her and kept them clean, so they healed nicely, too. When she had lived with us a month or two I came around to my house one afternoon and there were three tiny gray kittens. I was surprised, and asked Bob what they were doing there, and she replied that they were her babies. Then I was glad and kept them warm for her many times while she was off hunting. When they grew large enough they used to play tag over my back while Bob and I lay talking together, and after a while I found they liked to have me play with them, and for some reason I enjoyed a good romp as much as they did. One day when they were all climbing over me one put his paw on my nose so I couldn’t breathe, and I took him in my mouth and carried him off on the lawn and gave him a good shaking, but dear me! he knew I wasn’t angry and didn’t mind it a bit. Now the long, sunny summer days are coming, and I am waiting eagerly, for when the warm weather comes my dear little master and his mother and baby sister are coming for a long visit. Then I’ll be the happiest dog in town, for I’ll have to go walking with two playmates and my mistress. It is strange how few people understand dogs, or any other animal for that matter. The majority seem to think that all we are good for is to be kicked and abused. The people at both my homes are as kind to their animals as to their children, and love and care for us just as we need. I suppose that my history is not a very important one, but it will show how a dog can love and appreciate and tell what a truly happy life I have had so far, because I have been with good-hearted people. I am not a very old dog yet, but I hope to live many years with my kind friends in the beautiful home I now have, and wish all animals were as well off as, Yours truly, Dick. Katharine Watkins Lawson. [Illustration: VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW. (Tachycineta thalassina). ⅘ Life-size. FROM COL. CHI. ACAD. SCIENCES.] THE VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW. (_Tachycineta thalassina._) The Violet-green Swallow is one of the most beautiful of the Hirundinidæ, or family of swallows. There are about eighty species of the family and they are world-wide in their distribution. These tireless birds seem to pass almost the entire day on the wing in pursuit of insects upon which they feed almost exclusively. They can outfly the birds of prey, and the fact that they obtain their food while flying enables them to pursue their migrations by day and to rest at night. The Violet-green Swallow frequents the Pacific coast from British Columbia on the north, southward in the winter to Guatemala and Costa Rica. Its range extends eastward to the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains.