TO the deep woods They haste away, all as their fancy leads, Pleasure, or food, or secret safety prompts; That nature's great command may be obeyed, Nor all the sweet sensations they perceive Indulged in vain. Some to the holly hedge Nestling, repair, and to the thicket, some; Some to the rude protection of the thorn Commit their feeble offspring; the cleft tree Offers its kind concealment to a few, Their food its insects, and its moss their nests; Others apart, far in the grassy dale Or roughening waste their humble texture weave; But most in woodland solitudes delight, In unfrequented glooms or shaggy banks, Steep, and divided by a babbling brook, Whose murmurs soothe them all the livelong day, When by kind duty fixed. Among the roots Of hazel pendent o'er the plaintive stream, They frame the first foundation of their domes, Dry sprigs of trees, in artful fabric laid, And bound with clay together. Now 'tis nought But restless hurry through the busy air, Beat by unnumbered wings. The swallow sweeps The slimy pool, to build his hanging house Intent; and often from the careless back Of herds and flocks a thousand tugging bills Steal hair and wool; and oft when unobserved, Pluck from the barn a straw; till soft and warm, Clean and complete, their habitation grows. As thus the patient dam assiduous sits, Not to be tempted from her tender task Or by sharp hunger or by smooth delight, Though the whole loosened spring around her blows, Her sympathizing lover takes his stand High on the opponent bank, and ceaseless sings The tedious time away; or else supplies Her place a moment, while she suddenly flits To pick the scanty meal. --JAMES THOMSON. ---- THE GREAT BLUE HERON. Grotesque and tall, he stands erect, Where the reed-riffle swirls and gleams. Grave, melancholy, circumspect-- A hermit of the streams.--ERNEST MCGAFFEY. ERRONEOUSLY called Sandhill Crane or Blue Crane, by which names it is better known than by its proper name, this bird is well known as one of the most characteristic of North America, breeding, as it does, singly and in colonies from the Arctic regions southward to the West Indies and South America. In the warmer parts of the country it breeds in vast heronries in company with other species of Herons, of which there are eleven or twelve, to which places they resort year after year. It is a common bird, except in localities far removed from streams or ponds which furnish its food supply. This solitary and wary bird is usually seen standing in shallow water, often in mid-stream, but it requires great caution and skill on the part of the person who would observe its movements to get a view of him, as he usually first sees the intruder, and startles him by his harsh squawking cries as he flies from his feeding place.