Now one little duck, for some reason,--maybe he was not so strong as the others,--had not gone into the water with the rest, but remained sitting on the shore. Presently the mother-hen, turning round, happened to spy him. She stopped scratching, and looked at him as if she were saying, "All my chickens swim: now what is the matter with you? I know it must be laziness; and I won't have that." Then spreading out her wings, and making an angry clucking, she flew towards the unlucky duckling, took him by the back of his neck in her beak, and threw him as far as possible into the water. As she walked back to her weeds again; it seemed almost as if I could hear her say,-- "The chicken who can swim and _won't_ swim must be made to swim." L. W. E. [Illustration: Music] SONG OF THE CAT. Words by A. LLOYD. Music by T. CRAMPTON 1. The cat and her kittens recline in the sun, Mew! mew! mew! They're fond of their food and they're fond of their fun; Mew! mew! mew! Their old mother says they must sit in a row, The biggest is Jack and the little one Joe, And now altogether they make the place ring, With the one song they know and the chorus they sing: Mew! mew! mew! . . . Mew! mew! mew! 2. My dear little kittens when you are well grown, Mew! mew! mew! Some day you will each have a home of your own; Mew! mew! mew! You'll catch all the mice and you'll kill all the rats, And grow up, I hope, both respectable cats, Don't get in the cupboard, nor kill the poor lark, Keep away from big dogs and get home before dark; Mew! mew! mew! . . . Mew! mew! mew! 3. The kittens they listen'd and said they'd be good, Mew! mew! mew! And not kill the birds nor destroy the young brood! Mew! mew! mew! They lov'd their good mother, and tho't 'twould be nice, To grow strong and hearty and catch and kill mice. She wash'd all their faces and put them to bed, And now what do you think was the last thing they said; Mew! mew! mew! . . . Mew! mew! mew! * * * * * Transcriber's Notes: The January edition of the Nursery had a table of contents for the first six issues of the year. This table was divided to cover each specific issue. A title page copied from the January edition was also used for this number. A comma was changed to a period on page 94 (tasted very good).