’Twas Saturday, and afternoon, That school-boys’ jubilee, When the young heart is all in tune, From book and ferule free. I then was in my seventh year; The birds were all a singing; Above a brook, that rippled clear, A willow tree was swinging. My brother Ben was very ’cute, He climbed that willow tree, He cut a branch, and I was mute, The while, with ecstasy. With penknife he did cut it round, And gave the bark a wring; He shaped the mouth and tried the sound,-- It was a glorious thing! I blew that whistle, full of joy-- It echoed o’er the ground; And never, since that simple toy, Such music have I found. I’ve seen blue eyes and tasted wines-- With manly toys been blest, But backward memory still inclines To love that whistle best. [Illustration: _The Harpy Eagle._] Owls and Eagles. It has been remarked, that, as mankind apply themselves to various trades and pursuits, some being carpenters, some house-builders, some hunters, some fishermen, so we find that the animal tribes appear to be severally devoted to various professions. And as we find among men bold, open pirates, who rob by day, and secret thieves, who plunder by night; so, among animals, we find those that seem to have taken up similar vocations. The eagles, for instance, are daylight robbers; and it is wonderful to observe, how well adapted they are for the life they are designed to lead. They are strong of wing, with powerful talons to grasp their prey, and a sharp, hooked beak, calculated, like the knife of a butcher, to cut their food in pieces. Their eye is keen and long-sighted, so that they can mark their victim afar off; and their flight is swift, so that they may strike down upon it with certainty. Thus qualified to pursue a life of rapine and plunder, their very air and bearing correspond with their profession. They have a bold, haughty, and merciless look. The description in the thirty-ninth chapter of Job, portrays the character of these birds in a few sentences, and it is impossible to mend the description: “Doth the eagle mount up at thy command,” saith the inspired writer, “and make her nest on high? She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place. From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off. Her young ones, also, suck up blood; and where the slain are, there is she.” [Illustration: _The Eagle Owl._]