derful life histories recited. Insects are amazing creatures! Every pair of bright wings, or each tiny hum that attracts your attention during a summer day, has a past that is well worth the knowing.

Another entrancing book of the same character (although the subject must be studied by observing instead of by collecting) is Dugmore's "Bird Homes." It tells a host of facts concerning the birds and their young, and many charming anecdotes from personal observation. The pictures alone are a treat, showing the many varieties of nests and clay houses, and revealing the skill and care of the small builders, and how they adapt themselves to circumstances and make use of unusual materials. You will watch them at their work with double your present interest after reading this book, and you will learn how to discover nests and know the birds, besides telling one sort of "home" from another as soon as you see it.

In spring the first thing we hear that tells us winter is really over is the singing, or piping, of the frogs at evening.

But frogs do many things besides welcome in the spring, and you can find out all about them in Mary C. Dickerson's "Frog Book." You will like this book. Another, well worth while and delightfully written, is Ditmar's "Reptile Book." You cannot begin to guess how extraordinary reptiles are until you study them and try to watch them for yourself. Mr. Ditmar tells you, in the most entertaining way, of their habits and tricks and changes; also you learn how useful many of them are, especially some of the harmless snakes from which you want to run away. There are good and bad reptiles, in fact, as there are of other things, and you will be interested to learn to know them apart.

If you are fond of fishing (and what boy is n't, not to speak of the girls), you will enjoy the book by Jordan and Evermann on "American Food and Game Fishes." It tells you all about the fish you catch or hope to catch, as well as about those that are too rare or too far off for you to try for. You will also learn of the habits of the fish and where they are likely to be found, and of the many ways in use in catching them.

Speaking of fish makes one think of aquariums. This is a form of collecting that is especially satisfactory, since the specimens are all alive. There are many books on how to form an aquarium, that by Eugene Smith, "The Home Aquarium," being one of the best. Mr. Smith gives you all the information you need concerning a fresh-water collection, where to get your specimens of plant and animal life, how to care

for them and feed them, and how to make the aquarium itself. He tells, too, which of the little creatures get on best together, and which plants will look loveliest in the variously sized boxes.

NOT TO BE READ LIKE STORIES

OF course none of you want to read a book like those I have been talking of straight through from cover to cover as though it were a story. Some portions are to be read that way, but there are parts to which you will want to refer as occasion calls, such as the descriptions of specimens, the classifications, and scientific data. How to use a book is almost as important a thing to know as what books to get. Some books are to be read through once, some many times, and others should be kept on hand to turn to, like dictionaries, not of words, but of things.

one.

DON'T DROP THE OLD SUBJECT

If you decide to take up a new subject each summer, don't on that account entirely drop the old Have that in the background, as it were, but still be alert for fresh information upon it, for new specimens, even though the greater part of your activity is given to the new thing. If it was butterflies last year, be on the lookout for any that are new to you, even while you are perhaps collecting wild flowers or mosses or rocks or shells this year.

And don't think you will have to give up your play for this sort of work. In the first place, you are likely to find it the best of fun, and in the second you will have many a summer hour when you will be glad to have such an interest to fall back on. To discover a rare wild flower or shell, a new bird or butterfly, or to observe some fresh fact concerning an insect or an animal you already know, adds a marvelous zest to a country walk. And you will be a better camper and woodsman for each newly learned fact that has to do with nature. What you learn for yourself will stick to you. If you have a reliable book to fall back on, you won't make costly mistakes; and the summer will be richer for every secret of hers you discover.

The more interests you have in life, the more interesting life is going to be to you. If you can't play tennis because it rains, and you spend the afternoon grouching, you have really wasted your time. If you have turned joyously to doing something else, if you have a new specimen to mount or a plant or bird to study up, you never miss the tennis, and your day has been a success. Remember, there is n't just one thing, there are a hundred waiting for you to be interested in and to accomplish.

W. V.

ALL the words described contain the same number of letters. When rightly guessed and written one below another, the zigzag of stars will spell the name of a famous composer, and the numbers from 1 to 11, 12 to 17, 18 to 26, 27 to 30, 31 to 37, 38 to 48, 49 to 54, 55 to 63, and 64 to 71, the names of nine of his works.

CROSS-WORDS: 1. One of the United States. 2. A maker or solver of puzzles. 3. Rare. 4. A companion. 5. Prominent. 6. To try. 7. To mature. 8. A color.

9. A South American country. 10. A legal term meaning to invest with a fee. II. A masculine name. 12. Idolizing. 13. Unlawful.

ISIDORE HELFAND (age 13).

DOUBLE ACROSTIC

(Gold Badge, St. Nicholas League Competition)

ALL the words described contain the same number of letters. When rightly guessed and written one below another, the primals will spell the title and surname of one man, and the finals the full name of another, each of whom perished for his country in the American Revolution.

CROSS-WORDS: 1. The ocean. 2. A continent. 3. To joke. 4. A solemn affirmation. 5. The title given to some princes in India. 6. A river of England. 7. A biblical character. 8. A feminine name. 9. Used in fishing. 10. A city in Pennsylvania.

HELEN A. MOULTON (age 15).

CONCEALED SQUARE WORD

(One word is concealed in each couplet)

JUST see them coming down the street, With such a span I can't be beat.

I am not able to aver

That this or that one I prefer.

No, madam, I should hardly dare
To let you drive them to the fair.

In vain an early start we plan,

Where shall we find our missing man?

I have no fear, for all concede
So fine a span is sure to lead.

HELEN A. SIBLEY.

CONNECTED CENTRAL ACROSTIC

I

III

IV

V

VI

VII

THIS puzzle consists of nine groups of five-letter words. When the words described are correctly guessed and arranged as indicated in the diagram, the first letter of one group of words will be the same as the last letter of the adjoining group of words, and the central letters of the nine groups, reading downward, will spell the names of nine of the men who signed a famous document. I. 1. A tenet. 2. A musical drama. 3. To scorch. 4. Unearthly. 5. A country.

VIII

IX

II. 1. A nut. 2. Second of two. 3. The understanding. 4. Obtained from trees. 5. A place of contest. III. 1. Designated hours. 2. Sarcasm. 3. To supply with strength. 4. Little women. 5. Attempted. 6. A kind of match.

IV. 1. A country.

2. To languish. 3. To evade. 4. A Roman garment. 5. The sea. 6. Less moist. V. 1. A Jewish vestment. 2. Low carts. 3. A western farm. 4. Steps. 5. A phantom. 6. To entice into a snare. 7. Seizes. VI.

1. The path of a planet. 2. A tilting match. 3. A measure of length. 4. Briny. 5. Avarice. 6. Kinds. VII. 1. Meaning. 2. To lay out. 3. Short visits. 4. Coverings. 5. To call forth. 6. Strings. VIII. 1. Heavy cords. 2. A kind of vehicle. combine. 4. A doctrine. 5. A game. IX. 1. To discolor. 2. A kind of tree. 3. A jewel. 4. A wanderer. 5. To come forth.

3. To

EDITH PIERPONT STICKNEY (age 13), Honor Member.