He thinks he is very tall. He is about three feet tall. He thinks he is a little gentleman, because he can drink out of a coffee-cup and not spill a drop. But Ah Kee oftener behaves like a rogue than like a gentleman. There is always a look of mischief in his bright black eyes. His mistress never allows him to go into the parlor by himself. She knows he would sit on the brackets with the little statues. She knows he would like to swing to and fro on the curtain tassels. She knows he would like to jerk the bell-pull, and bring Rose up from the kitchen. She knows he would like to take the Sevres vases and walk up and down the room with them in his arms. No, Ah Kee, with his roguish tastes, is not to be trusted in the parlor by himself. But he sometimes comes in when she is there. Sometimes when she is reading she hears a soft sound like this, "_lsp-s-s-s!_" She jumps up, looks all around. Under the table, or in a corner she sees a soft, round, feathery ball of fur--and one little paw raised, all claws and motion. [Illustration: AH KEE'S GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT.] Ah, that is Ah Kee, and Ah Kee means mischief. Perhaps he will spring into his mistress' lap. Perhaps he will leap up on the piano. You cannot be sure what he will decide to do. Yes, Ah Kee is a monkey, a gay little spider monkey, with a long tail that he likes to carry over his head in the shape of the letter S. Ah Kee's mistress has made up her mind to do one thing. She will buy Ah Kee a silver collar with a ring. She will buy Ah Kee a broad blue ribbon. Then, when she wants a quiet hour, she will slip the blue ribbon through the collar ring, and tie Ah Kee to the door knob. [Illustration: {DICK AND GRAY.}] Dick and Gray, My bird and cat, Good friends are they: Just think of that! Dick pecks Gray's paw; Gray winks and blinks. "I'll not harm Dick," Is what he thinks. So on the wall, This sunny weather, Chirping, purring, They play together. THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS. Down in the South Land, one morning in March, there was a great stir among the birds. "Spring has come in the far North," they said. "Jack Frost is going, the ice is melting, and now we'll go home-home!" Bluebirds, and robins, and bobolinks, how glad they were! They got up very early that morning, even for birds. They bathed in a tiny pond, and preened their feathers. They ate their breakfast and then they started, straight through the air, for the North. Do you wonder how they knew the way? How does a bird know which way is north and which way is south? There is a "Careful Gardener" who tells the flowers when to bloom, and he tells the birds which way to fly.