pret'-ty to take a poor lit'-tle bird and keep it in a room; but she al'-ways tried to per-suade her little son to do what was right; and he was so good a boy that he hard'-ly ev-er want'-ed to be forced to any thing. She did not, there'fore, take away the robin and let it fly; but said to George, that the poor little robin would nev'-er be so hap'-py in the room, as it would be in the open air. There, said she, it has more room to fly a-bout', and it has oth'-er little robins for com-pan-ions, which sit with it in the large trees, and fly about with it, and sing with it, in the fields and gardens. It can find so man'-y things which it likes to eat, that you can'-not get for it, for you do not even know what it likes best. Be-sides' all this, it will beat it-self' a-gainst' the win'-dow in trying to get out; and when it finds that it can'not get out, it will fret and be ill; and af'-ter it has suf'-fered all this, and be-come' tame, perhaps' the cat may come in and tear it to pie'-ces.

George stood still a little while, and looked first at his mother, and then at the robin, just as if he had been think'-ing on what his mother had said to him. He then told his mother he would carry the robin into the garden, and let it fly a-way': I will on'-ly look once more at its pret'-ty eyes, said he. That, said his mother, is the thing I wish you to do, my dear boy; and it gives me more pleas'-ure that you should do it be-cause' you think it right, than that should do it be-cause' I bid you. you

Little George was ver'-y much pleased that his mother praised him; and he went in'-to the garden, and opened his waist'-coat, and out flew the little robin, and was in a min'-ute on a tree. When George saw it sha'-king and pick'-ing its feath'-ers and hop'-ping joy'-ful-ly from one branch to an-oth'-er, and heard how it chir-ruped, he was glad he had not kept it; and he went and took the trap a-way', and said he nev'-er would catch an-oth'-er poor little bird as long as he lived.

THE ROOK AND THE PITCHER.

Two old rooks built their nest on the top of a great tree, and hatched three young ones, whose names were Jet, and Jack, and Broad'-bill. Now Jet was very good; but Jack and Broadbill were very bad birds, and mind'-ed not a word that was said to them: they were al'-ways quar'-rel-ling with each other, and were very rude and sau'-cy to their sister Jet.

One day the old rooks said to the young ones, My dear chil'-dren, we are go'-ing out on a vis'-it to your un'-cle and aunt, who have built a nest in yon'-der wood. Take care you do not quar'-rel with each other; and, pray, do not at-tempt to fly in our ab'-sence.

Jet said she would not leave the nest; but Jack and Broad-bill only cawed and flapped their wings; for they were sad wick'-ed birds, and did not mean to be good.

The old rooks were scarce -ly out of sight,

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when Jack be-gan' to quar'-rel with Broad-bill a-bout' some non'-sense or other; and they cawed and cawed, and flapped their wings in each other's eyes, and scratched with their sharp claws, till Jet was quite vexed at their bad be-ha-vi-our, and begged them not to fight; but, in-stead' of mind'-ing what their good sister said to them, they pecked her head and pulled out some of her nice black feath'-ers.

At last Broad-bill, who was the stron'-ger, pushed Jack over the edge of the nest; and Jack, who had never learned to fly, fell from the top of the tree to the bottom, and broke his neck by the fall.

Oh! what a fright Broad-bill was in when he saw what he had done! he did not mean to kill Jack; but when peo'-ple give way to an'-ger, they never know where it will end, and so Jet told him. Jet was grieved, and cried sad-ly for the death of poor Jack;

though, if he had been good like her, he would not have come to such a bad end.

Now Broadbill was ver'-y qui'-et for some time after this dis-as'-ter had taken place; and Jet be-gan' to think he had seen the er'-ror of his con'-duct, and was go'-ing to be-have' quite well for the time to come.

Broadbill chanced to see some young crōws a lit'-tle big'-ger than him-self' on the next tree learn'-ing to fly; and they flew from bough to bough, and then back again to the nest; and seemed to en-joy' them-selves' so well that Broadbill thought he should like to fly like his neigh'-bours; and he said, Come, Jet, do not let us stay mo'-ping here; see how merry our cousins the crows are! I am sure we could fly as well as they, if we tried. Broth'-er Broadbill, said Jet, our father and mother told us not to quit the nest in their ab'-sence; and I do not think our wings are strong e-nough' to bear us, and we have not