Up then, children! we will go Where the blooming roses grow; In a joyful company, We the bursting flowers will see; Up, your festal dress prepare! Where gay breasts are meeting, there May hath pleasures most inviting, Heart, and sight, and ear delighting. Listen to the bird’s sweet song, Hark! how soft it floats along. Pleasant dames! our pleasures share; Never saw I dames so fair; Therefore dancing we will go. Youths rejoice! the flow’rets blow! Sing ye! join the chorus gay! Hail this merry May! The old rhyme tells us that April showers Bring May flowers; and how often have we been tempted, on May morning, to go forth, expecting to find blossoms, as we are told they do in other countries――and how have we always been disappointed! Still, May is a delightful month, even in New England, and none of us would be willing to let it slip from the circle of the seasons. Inquisitive Jack. CHAPTER IV. _About birds in general._ Our friend Jack, having made himself familiar with the peculiarities of the domestic fowls, turned his attention to other species of birds. He noticed particularly those which seemed to possess gentle and confiding natures, such as the sparrows that build upon the shrubs round the house; the martens that take up their abode in boxes which you make for them, and place near the eaves of your dwelling; the swallows that build in the barn, and the cheerful robin that loves to dwell in the apple orchard. All these he observed with care, noticing their modes of building and rearing their young; the food they eat, the cries they uttered, and, in general, their peculiar characteristics. From these, Jack passed to other birds, and carefully studied them also. At last, he was pretty well acquainted with the whole subject of birds; and now he observed several important things, which I shall present to the attention of my readers. [Illustration: (quill)] In the first place, Jack was struck with admiration at the formation of birds. They are designed to raise themselves in the air, and to spend a considerable part of their time in that subtle element. And how wonderfully adapted to this purpose are they! In the first place, a bird must have great strength, and yet great lightness: and how happily are they united! Look at the quill of the wing――how strong, and yet how light! Who could have invented anything more admirably suited to rise on the breeze and cut its way through the air? Is there a human being who could make a single quill, even if the model were placed before him? Not one.