A BOY REPROVED BY A BIRD.

The sparrows often build their nests under the eaves of houses and

barns. A young lad saw one of the sparrows conveying materials for her

nest, which she was building under the eaves of a cottage adjoining

his father's house. He was told not to disturb it. But birds eggs form

a temptation to many boys. At a favorable opportunity the lad climbed

up to the roof of the cottage and carried away the nest with the eggs

in it Among the materials of which the nest was composed was a piece

of paper with some printed verses on it. The boy pulled it out and

found it to be a page of one of Dr. Watts' hymns, which had been

picked up in the yard by the poor bird for strengthening her nest.

The boy unfolded the paper and read:----



"Why should I deprive my neighbor

Of his goods against his will?

Hands were made for honest labor,

Not to plunder nor to steal."



The lad says, in his after years, "I never forgot the lesson presented

to me by that leaf of paper which had been fixed to the nest of the

poor sparrow." Let young people remember that when they do wrong they

will get reproved, and it may be by the means of a bird.