Or sheds a tear o'er him to Egypt sold, The upland muirs, where rivers, there but brooks, And words of comfort spake: over their souls His accents soothing came,-as to her young The heath-fowl's plumes, when, at the close of eve, She gathers in, mournful, her brood dispersed By murderous sport, and o'er the remnant spreads Fondly her wings; close nestling 'neath her breast, They, cherish'd, cower amid the purple blooms. Wandering, and stopping oft, to hear the song man, The father and the priest, walk forth alone Than they, the favorites of youth and health, Of riches and of fame, who have renounced The glorious promise of the life to come, Clinging to death. Or mark that female face, I've noted such a one, feeble and pale, To those who were in want; but now old age, The poor man's boon, that stints him of his bread, Is prized more highly in the sight of Him hands That scarce can know their countless treasures less: Yea, the deep sigh that heaves the poor man's breast To see distress, and feel his willing arm And should all bounty, that is clothed with power Be deem'd unworthy?-Far be such a thought! A WINTER PIECE. - But winter has yet brighter scenes-he boasts Splendors beyond what gorgeous summer knows; Or autumn, with his many fruits, and woods All flush'd with many hues. Come, when the rains Have glazed the snow, and clothed the trees with ice: While the slant sun of February pours And diamonds put forth radiant rods and bud Loosen'd, the crashing ice shall make a sound Muster their wrath again, and rapid clouds W. C. BRYANT. THE BAT TRIBE. THIS THIS curious family presents at first sight such a remarkable peculiarity of form, that a person, having no previous acquaintance with its different members, might well hesitate whether to call them beasts or birds. This difficulty vanishes on a closer examination, which proves them to belong to the former class, their resemblance to a bird depending on an umbrella-like expansion of delicate membrane, stretched upon the bones of the fore extremities, which are greatly elongated, and widely separated from one another. These correspond to the wires or whalebones, so that, by merely opening and shutting its hands, as it were, this timid night-loving little animal can poise its body in the air as lightly as its feathered companions. Nor is this all: the whole surface of this soft, hairless membrane is endowed with so fine a sense of touch, that the creature is enabled, with ease and certainty, to avoid obstacles in its flight, and this even in circumstances where vision is impossible, distinguishing them apparently by the mere rebound of the wave of air produced by the impulse of its wings. The large, shell-shaped ears, with which some species of bats are furnished, possess the same exquisite sensibility, and thus aid their movements in the feeble and uncertain light in which they ply the wing. The thumb is short, and ends in a claw, by which, "during the day, they hang other buildings, or in crevices of ruined suspended from the roofs of barns and castles; or they shelter beneath the murky canopy of caves, or the overhanging gloom of shaded rocks. Neither do they despise the secure concealment afforded by the hollow chambers of ancient forest trees;" but "When fades the glimm'ring landscape on the sight, And all the air a solemn stillness holds," they wake into life and activity, and may often be glimpsed in the dusk of a summer's evening, flitting to and fro in pursuit of the insects on which they feed. The body of the smaller species of bat is very like that of the mouse, and about the same size. Like that, it is also covered with a close, soft fur. This resemblance has given rise to its popular name of flitter-mouse. The membranous web, | in vast numbers, and, hanging suspendbefore described as extended upon the slender bones of the arms and fingers, collapses or folds together when these are retracted. It passes from the fore-limbs completely round the body, including the hind-legs, the feet of which are furnished with five claws, and also the tail, where one exists. The Kalongs, or fox-bats of Java, are remarkable for inhabiting trees, to the branches of which they attach themselves ed by their hind-claws, with their wings wrapped round them, the silent and motionless groups are often mistaken for fruit amid the foliage. If alarmed, they utter piercing shrieks and cries, struggling at the same time to extricate their sharp claws from the branches, to which they cling so firmly, that, if shot while sleeping away the sultry hours, they retain their hold even after death. But at the approach of nightfall they relax their grasp, and one after another, in irregular but uninterrupted succession, they drop from the tree, and wing their steady flight for the nearest forest or plantation, where they do incredible mischief, by devouring indiscriminately every kind of fruit they can light upon. The Vampire bat is met with only in South America, and is said to equal a magpie in size. It has acquired an unenviable notoriety from its habit of sucking blood. This it is enabled to do by the peculiar form of its mouth, which is beset with tubercles, and contains a tongue "six times longer than broad, flattish above, rounded beneath, the surface slightly shagreened, with a peculiar cavity close to its extremity, the center of which is marked by a raised point, and the circumference by eight warts." Travelers vary in their accounts respecting its bloodthirsty propensity, which some affirm, while others deny. Clinging to the branch of a tree in the Molucca Islands, there may be often seen a strange, grotesque-looking object, about a foot in length, with apparently shapeless and ill-matched limbs. It belongs to the tribe of lemurs, but, like the bats, which in some respects it resembles, its period of activity is during the darkness of night. Through the day it hangs suspended amid the branches of some lofty tree, often with its head downward; but, when darkness sets in, it roams about the woods, preying upon fruits and insects. To give it the advantage of passing quickly from tree to tree, without descending to the ground, the skin on each side of its body is spread out in the form of a large web or mantle; and, in its springs and leaps, this, being suddenly spread out like a parachute, breaks the force of its descent, and enables it to alight in safety. On the ground these little creatures run with some degree of swiftness, and climb the trees in the same manner as a cat. They prove troublesome neighbors to the birds, on whose eggs they sup; nor have they any scruples in including the birds themselves in the repast. Its color is usually red or gray, varying with its age. The ears are short and rounded, and the muzzle pointed, giving its head an appearance not unlike a fox. There seems something disproportioned in its small head, flat incurvated tail, slender body, and large bony limbs. The muscular development of the limbs, especially of the arms, is extraordinary; but, powerful as they seem, they are evidently unsuited to defend itself from attack, or to retain a firm hold of struggling prey; for the feet are undivided into toes, and the claws diverge in different directions. But these strong arms, though of little use against its enemies, enable it to climb |