A word should be said as to the grouping of the tales. The types are not so distinct but that there is a borderland between the _lai_ and the _fabliau_ in which are found a few examples with the characteristics of each. _The Lay of the Bird_ is a case in point. Gaston Paris, in his _Littérature Française au Moyen Age_, classes it as a _fabliau_ because the story is not of Celtic but Eastern origin; yet M. de Montaiglon does not admit it to his complete edition of the _Fabliaux_. Indeed, the enchanted orchard, the talking bird, the sentiments, the praise of love are all in the manner of the courtly poetry. It is therefore, on account of its accessories, here included among the _lais_. * * * * * The Riverside Press CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS U.S.A.