THE WILD PIGEON OF AMERICA. The wild pigeon of America, or, as it is often called, the passenger pigeon, is sixteen inches long, and twenty-four in extent. In the spring, multitudes of these birds are seen on the wing, speeding to the northern and western regions of the continent. Here, in the extensive forests, they collect in vast companies, and devote themselves to the rearing of their young. They build their nests in the tops of trees, and such is the almost incredible multitude sometimes assembled at a particular place, that they break the branches of the trees by their weight, and desolate the forest for miles around. Towards autumn, these birds with the young ones now added to their number, set out for their return to the southern latitudes to spend the winter. The flocks that are sometimes seen, particularly in the Western States, contain many millions. A continued stream, for several miles in width, an many hours in duration, is often seen to pour along the air, sweeping forward with almost incredible swiftness. When the roosts of these birds are first discovered, the inhabitants from a considerable distance visit them in the night, with guns, clubs, pots of sulphur, and various other engines of destruction. In a few hours they fill many sacks, and load their horses with them. By the Indians a pigeon roost, or breeding place, is considered an important source of national profit and dependence for that season; and all their active ingenuity is exercised on the occasion. The migrations of these birds are thus noticed by Mr. Audubon. “Their great power of flight enables them when in need, to survey and pass over an astonishing extent of country in a very short time. This is proved by facts known to the greater number of observers in America. Pigeons for example have been killed in the neighborhood of New York with their crops still filled with rice, collected by them in the fields of Georgia and Carolina, the nearest point at which this supply could possibly have been obtained; and, as it is well ascertained, that owing to their great power of digestion, they will decompose food entirely in twelve hours, they must have travelled between three hundred and four hundred miles in six hours, making their speed at an average about one mile in a minute, and this would enable one of these birds, if so inclined, to visit the European continent, as swallows are undoubtedly able to do, in a couple of days." "This great power of flight is seconded by as great a power of vision, which enables them as they travel at that swift rate, to view objects below, to discover their food with facility, and thus put an immediate end to their journey. This I have also proved to be the case, by having observed the Pigeons, when passing over a destitute part of the country, keep high in air, and in such an extensive front, as to enable them to survey hundreds of acres at once. But if on the contrary, the land is richly covered with food, or the trees with mast, they will fly low, in order to discover the portion most plentifully supplied, and upon these they alight progressively." CHANGES OF THE UNIVERSE. Every thing around us is in a constant state of motion, yet nothing falls into disorder. The heavenly bodies perform their revolutions with the utmost possible regularity. Even those eccentric bodies, comets, have their orbits, and travel regularly within their allotted space. How regularly and invariably do the seasons depart and return! Spring and summer, seed time and harvest, never fail to return. The visible world it self is perpetually undergoing changes. The earth is constantly being deprived of its nourishing juices by the plants and roots. But is it, therefore, worn out and rendered sterile? No; for the same wise Being who has ordained that the vegetable and animal creation shall depend upon the earth's fecundity for support, has ordained, likewise, that that fecundity shall be perpetually renewed and maintained. With our own frames it is the same. At every instant of our lives we are literally wearing out our bodies. Insensible perspiration alone deprives us, every day, of some pounds weight of our substance. But the aliments which God has provided for us replace the waste thus caused, and restore us the strength we expend. How wonderful is the wisdom which has thus provided for the continued existence of the universe! how wonderful, also, is the power which has, from the beginning of time, instituted this unvarying succession of circumstances! Can we reflect upon the innumerable manifestations of this power and of this wisdom without feeling the highest admiration and the utmost humility? Above all, when we reflect upon the innumerable instances in which, to this power and this wisdom, there is added a boundless and almost incredible benevolence, can we fail to be penetrated by the most sincere and profound gratitude? If we meditate aright we most surely cannot let us, then, not become guilty, as well as unwise, by neglecting thus to meditate. WISE SAYINGS. Quintilian recommends to all parents the them to train them up in learning, good mantimely education of their children, advising ners, and virtuous exercises, since we common'ly retain those things in age which we entertained in our youth. Advice is offensive, not because it lays us open to unexpected regret, or convicts us of any fault which has escaped our notice, but because it shows that we are known to others as well as ourselves; and the officious monitor is persecuted with hatred, not because his accusation is false, but because he assumes the superiority which we are not willing to grant him, and has dared to detect what we desired to conceal. True quietness of heart is got by resisting our passions, not by obeying them. Young persons should not only embrace the admonitions and instructions of the aged, but also imitate their virtues and shun their vices. THE VAIN REGRET. BY BARRY CORNWALL. Oh! had I mused, when I was young, Alas! he only shows the truth The thoughts now budding in my brain,- Alas! he but brings back the truth Truths!-hardly learned and lately brought, To your voices, sage, serene, Oh! what might I not have been In the realms of thought! THE UNITED FAMILY. A PUZZLE. We are a large family, united by the firmest and closest bonds of friendship, and so much attached to each other, that a separation always causes pain to the whole circle; and seldom are any of us affected by disease, but it extends to the most distant of us. We did not make our appearance in this world at the same time, neither do we finish our career together, as various accidents and horrid cruelties tear us from each other; and when dragged from our native place, we are cast away as useless, though when united, we form one of the greatest ornaments of the human race, and great pains are taken to preserve us in a state of health and beauty. We are not famed for oratory, yet we greatly assist a very near neighbor in his delivery of speech, both in public and private; and without our friendly aid, his most persua sive accents would fail in their effect. Though small in size, yet such is our strength, that we can perform work with ease to ourselves, which could not be so well done by the nicest machinery. The art of man has done much to form imitations of us, yet never can he compete with Nature, in combining beauty, usefulness, and durability, such as we possess. Young readers, take care of these precious treasures while you have them, for never can you purchase such again.-Can any of you answer this? PARLEY'S MAGAZINE. Price one dollar a year, in advance. Six cents single, 50 cents a dozen. Each number being stereotyped, the back numbers can be supplied in any quantities. All orders post paid, promptly attended to. The postage on this Magazine is three quarters of a cent for 100 miles, and one cent and a quarter only, the greatest distance. Published every other Saturday, by One very common error misleads the opinion LILLY, WAIT, & CO. 121 Washington Street, BOSTON of mankind, that, universally, authority is plea- COLMAN, HOLDEN, & Co, Portland. MARSHALL & BROWN, Providence. Sold by all the principal booksellers in the U. States ⚫ separation from his species, the beaver is a quiet, or rather stupid animal. It is only in a state of nature, that the beaver displays any of those singular modes of acting, which have made the animal so celebrated. The beavers show much ingenuity in the construction of their houses. They gnaw down large trees with their teeth, and float them to the spot, where they intend to fix their dwellings. When building their houses, they place most of the wood crosswise and nearly horizontally. They obtain mud from the bottom of the stream, and use it to plaster their habitations. Their work is all performed at night, and with much rapidity. As soon as any part of the material is placed where it is to remain, they turn round and give it a smart blow with the tail. The outside of the hut is covered or plastered with mud late in the autumn, and after frost has begun to appear. By freezing it soon becomes almost as hard as stone. The beavers feed principally upon the bark of various kinds of trees. They provide a stock of wood during the summer season, and place it in the water opposite to the entrance of their houses. The young beavers are very playful. One day a gentleman spied five young beavers sporting in the water, leaping upon the trunk of a tree, pushing one another off, and playing a thousand interesting tricks. He approached softly, under cover of the bushes, and prepared to fire on the unsuspecting creatures, but a nearer approach discovered to him such a resemblance between their gestures and the infantile caresses of his own children, that he threw aside his gun and left them unmolested. The number of beavers killed in the northern parts of this country is very great. In the year 1820, sixty thousand beaver skins were sold by the Hudson's Bay Company. The Indians generally catch the beavers in a trap. Their fur, it is well known, is in much demand for the manufacture of hats and other purposes. My young readers may be interested in the account of M. du Pratz, who resided sixteen years in the northern parts of Louisiana. At the head of one of the rivers of Louisiana, in a very retired place, M. du Pratz found a beaver-dam. Not far from it, but hidden from the sight of the animals, he and his companions erected a hut, in order to watch the operations of these creatures at leisure. They waited till the moon shone bright, and then, carrying in their hands branches of trees, in order to conceal themselves, they went with great care and silence to the dam. M. du Pratz ordered one of the men to cut, as silently as possible, a gutter, about a foot wide, through it, and to retire immediately to the hiding-place. "As soon as the water through the gutter began to make a noise,” says this writer, 66 we heard a Beaver come from one of the huts and plunge in. We saw him get upon the bank, and clearly perceived that he examined it. He then, with all his force, gave four distinct blows with his tail, when immediately the whole colony threw themselves into the water and went to the dam. As soon as they were assembled, one of them appeared, by muttering, to issue some kind of orders, for they all instantly left the place and went out on the banks of the pond in different directions. Those nearest to us were between our station and the dam, and therefore we could observe their operations very plainly. Some of them formed a substance resembling a kind of mortar; others carried this on their tails, which served as |