IL Bird Voices. "HARK to nature's lesson, given Mortal, fly from doubt and sorrow, "Say, have kings more wholesome fare Mortal, fly from doubt and sorrow, God provideth for the morrow." BIRD VOICES. "Behold the fowls of the air."-MATT. vi. 26. HO does not love the birds? Bright, beautiful creatures they are, with their glossy feathers, and their sweet songs that fill the air with melody. They are among the most wonderful of the works of God; and when we see them flying from tree to tree, or soaring in graceful circles up through the sky, their light colours shining in the sunbeams, they seem to be a kind of link between heaven and earth, or like little messengers sent to warble in our ears the praise of God. And are they not to us all eloquent preachers? When Jesus said to His disciples, "Behold the fowls of the air," it was as if He ordained all the feathery tribes as ministers to teach the world their lessons of trust and love and sweet contentment. "They sow not," said Christ, "neither do they reap or gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feedeth them." How beautiful, and how full of comfort were these words to the disciples. Many of them afterwards became very poor; but when wicked men drove them from their homes, and left them hungry and ready to perish, they had only to look up and remember this saying, and every little bird of the air seemed to sing to them, "Your heavenly Father feedeth us ;" and they were happy, for they knew that He who feeds the birds would feed His children also. But we should not only "behold the fowls of the air" to see how wonderfully they are fed and clothed, but also to see how God gives them their homes. See the little nest as it hangs away up in the tree. There the bird family live as comfortably as we do in our snug houses. Who taught them to build those homes? They have not minds as we have, yet I doubt if our fingers could weave anything that would suit them so well. God has given them instinct; and this is so strong and true that it helps them to gain their food and build their nests, and care for their little baby birds much better than we could with all our thinking and studying. There are a great many kinds of birds-nests, and every bird builds just that kind of one that is best for itself. Wonderful workers are they with their tiny bills, and feet that take the place of hands. It has been found that they have all the trades among them. There are the miners, who dig out their homes under ground, like the winter wrens, the king-fishers, and penguins. There are the groundbuilders, who make their nests upon the ground and among dead leaves, like the whip-poor-wills and sparrows. There are the masons, like the swallows, who build of clay and mud. Then the carpenters, cutting out their homes, as the woodpeckers do in the trunks and branches of the trees. Then the weavers, like the oriole, who makes a strong kind of cloth, just the shape of a pocket, with several linings in it, and inside of all a soft lining of horsehair. On one side of this nest is a round hole that answers both for door and window. Then there are platform-builders, like the eagle, basket-makers, cementers, tailors, and several others. And among them all, each bird builds just the same kind of nest that its forefathers built thousands of years ago, and builds it exactly right, not having to pull down and alter his house, as men often do when they have made mistakes. How wonderful is the wisdom and goodness of God in guiding them and teaching them to do all these things! I hope none of my readers are so wicked as to rob and take away their nests. It is as cruel to the birds as it would be for a man to come and pull down our homes, and carry off the children from their parents. And do not think of destroying the birds. We call Japan a heathen country; but in Japan they never kill birds for sport. They have little troughs scooped out for them in the tombstones, which the |