Produced by Emmy, Juliet Sutherland and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. Music by Linda Cantoni. THE NURSERY _A Monthly Magazine_ FOR YOUNGEST READERS. VOLUME XXII.--No. 4. BOSTON: JOHN L. SHOREY, No. 36 BROMFIELD STREET, 1877. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1877, by JOHN L. SHOREY, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. FRANKLIN PRESS: RAND, AVERY, AND COMPANY, 117 FRANKLIN STREET, BOSTON. [Illustration: Contents.] IN PROSE. PAGE The Parrot that played Truant 97 Feeding the Ducks 100 Chestnut-Gathering 104 A Day with the Alligators 107 The Spider and her Family 110 Why Uncle Ralph did not hit the Deer 113 Faithful Dandy 114 Emma and her Doll 117 Our old Billy 119 The Thrush feeding the Cuckoo 120 The Cat and the Starling 125 IN VERSE. PAGE A Baby Lay 101 The Pigs 106 How to draw a Goose 112 Learn your Lesson 116 Jippy and Jimmy 122 The jolly old Cooper 123 The Express Package 126 The White Owl (_with music_) 128 [Illustration: Birds] [Illustration: THE PARROT THAT PLAYED TRUANT.] THE PARROT THAT PLAYED TRUANT. [Illustration: O]LD Miss Dorothy Draper had a parrot. It was one of the few things she loved. And the parrot seemed to love her in return. Miss Dorothy would hang the cage outside of her window every sunny day. Sometimes an idle boy would come along, and poke a stick between the wires; and then the old lady would say, "Boy, go away!" But one day, when the window was open, and the door of the cage was open also, Polly thought it was a good time to play truant. So she hopped out, rested on the sill a moment, and then flew into the street, from tree to tree, and from lamp-post to lamp-post. Poor Miss Dorothy was in despair. How should she get back her lost pet? She called in a policeman, and he advised her to get out a handbill, offering a reward. So in an hour this notice was pasted on the walls near by:--