=Christmas at our House=:--Write as if you were telling of some particular occasion, although you may perhaps be combining the events of several Christmas days. Tell of the preparations for Christmas: the planning; the cooking; the whispering of secrets. Make as much use of conversation as possible, and do not hesitate to use even very small details and little anecdotes. Perhaps you will wish to tell of the hanging of the stockings on Christmas Eve; if there are children in the family, tell what they did and said. Write as vividly as possible of Christmas morning, and the finding of the gifts; try to bring out the confusion and the happiness of opening the parcels and displaying the presents. Quote some of the remarks directly, and speak of particularly pleasing or absurd gifts. Go on and tell of the sports and pleasures of the day. Speak of the guests, describing some of them, and telling what they said and did. Try to bring out contrasts here. Put as much emphasis as you wish upon the dinner, and the quantities of good things consumed. Try to quote the remarks of some of the people at the table. If your theme has become rather long, you might close it by a brief account of the dispersing of the family after dinner. You might, however, complete your account of the day by telling of the evening, with its enjoyments and its weariness. COLLATERAL READINGS Wild Life Near Home D.L. Sharp A Watcher in the Woods " " The Lay of the Land " " Winter " " The Face of the Fields " " The Fall of the Year " " Roof and Meadow " " Wild Life in the Rockies Enos A. Mills Kindred of the Wild C.G.D. Roberts Watchers of the Trail " " " Haunters of the Silences " " " The Ways of Wood Folk W.J. Long Eye Spy W.H. Gibson Sharp Eyes " " Birds in the Bush Bradford Torrey Everyday Birds " " Nature's Invitation " " Bird Stories from Burroughs (selections) John Burroughs Winter Sunshine " " Pepacton " " Riverby " " Wake-Robin " " Signs and Seasons " " How Santa Claus Came to Simpson's Bar Bret Harte Santa Claus's Partner T.N. Page