Lady Mary and her Nurse

joyfully. "The snow is going away at last. I am tired of the white snow, it makes my eyes ache.

now is gone. The streets are still slippery with ice

gone from under the bushes and trees in the garden. I saw some dear little birds flying about, and I watched them perching on the

ingilla melodia.] flitting about the garden fences, or picking the stalks of the tall mullein and amaranths, to find the seeds that have not been shaken out by the autumn winds; and possibly they also find insects cradled in

ooking birds, nurse; dark sla

looked so neat and prim. In the summer you may find their nests in th

terday, when I was in the garden;

is cheerful little bird comes with th

ld show me a darling robin redbreast.

ve seen at home; our robin is twice as large; though in shape resembling the European robin; I bel

nurse; is it the s

in another country, he is said to emigrate. This is the reason why the Englis

e the Canadian

ur, and the breast is pale orange; not so

r seen their

grass, roots, and dead leaves, plastered inside with clay, mixed with bits of straw, so as to form a sort

the side of a mossy ditch, with primroses growing close beside it; it was made of green moss, and lined with

apple-trees in the orchard. The eggs are a greenish blue. The robin sings a full, clear song; indeed

ouse in winter, and pick up the crumbs,

hey hop about the houses and gardens pretty freely. In the fall, before they go away, they

birds flying away

he dull grey sky. The water birds, such as geese, swans, and ducks, take their flight in large bodies. They are heard making a continual noise in the air, and may be seen grouped in long lines, or in the form of the letter V

owl in their flight; and Mrs. Frazer told her that some other time she wou

mething about birds' nests,

r of putting them together; dried grass, roots, and a little moss, seem to be the materials they make use of. It has been noticed by many persons, my dear, that those birds that l

ery strang

th skins of beasts, bark, or reeds; but when they once unite together in a more social state, and live in villages and towns, a desire for improvement takes place; th

ere once savages, and lived in caves, huts, and thick woods; that

ngland, you will see that such

e, and the blue sky, and men's houses. I will make my garden very pretty

ot laugh at the little girl; for she thought it was a lovely thing to see her wish to give happiness to the least of God's creature

l you tell me which flowe

a plant that comes

e; [Footnote: Winter Aconite.] I

ow; then comes the pretty snow-flower or hepatica. Its pretty tufts of white, pink, or blue starry flowers, may be seen on the open clearing, or beneath the shade of t

omes in is the dog's-to

hron

e!" exclaimed Lad

retty; they are veined or clouded with milky white or dusky purple. The plant has a bulbous root, and in the month of April sends up its singl

y other pretty

, and the everlasting flower, [Footnote: Graphalium.] and saxifrage, and the white and dark red lily, that the Yankees call 'white and red death.' [Footnote: Trillium, or Wake Robin.] These have three green leaves about the mid

e horns. There is a hard thick piece that lies down just above the sack or mocassin part; and if you lift this up, you see a pair of round dark spots like eyes, and the Indian

iful sort, purple and

taller, and bears l

unny face and e

e yellow mocassin. When my brother and I were children, we used to fold back the petal

much amused

ch they stain the baskets and porcupine quills. One of our earliest flowers is called the blood-root; [Footnote: Sanguivaria.] it comes up a delicate white folded bud, within a vine-shaped leaf,

w I can tell my dear mamma what th

only not so large. You saw some crocuses in the c

thing with holes in its back, and the flowers came up

e of what colours real

hite and gr

a print and showed it

porcupine lik

pine feeds, as well as on wild bulbs and berries, and the bark of the black spruce and larch. It will also eat apples and Indian corn.] and small fruits; it burrows in dry stony hillocks, and passes the cold weather in sleep. It goes abroad chiefly during the night. The spines

dy Mary all she knew ab

came to say that her