3.  A moment, one moment too late, busy bee; The honey has dropped from the flower:  No use to creep under the petals and see; It stood ready to drop for an hour.

4.  A moment too late; had you sped on your wing, The honey would not have been gone;

        Thirdreader. 57

Now you see what a very, a very sad thing
 ’T is to stay a moment too long.

5.  Little girl, never be a moment too late,
It will soon end in trouble or crime;
Better be an hour early, and stand and wait,
Than a moment behind the time.

6.  If the bird and the bee, little boy, were too late,
Remember, as you play along
On your way to school, with pencil and slate,
Never stay a moment too long.

Lesson XXI.

Humming birds. 1.  The most beautiful humming birds are found in the West Indies and South America.  The crest of the tiny head of one of these shines like a sparkling crown of colored light. 2.  The shades of color that adorn its breast, are equally brilliant.  As the bird

58 Eclectic series. flits from one object to another, it looks more like a bright flash of sunlight than it does like a living being. 3.  But, you ask, why are they called humming birds?  It is because they make a soft, humming noise by the rapid motion of their wings—­a motion so rapid, that as they fly you can only see that they have wings. 4.  One day when walking in the woods, I found the nest of one of the smallest humming birds.  It was about half the size of a very small hen’s egg, and

Third reader. 59 was attached to a twig no thicker than a steel knitting needle. 5.  It seemed to have been made of cotton fibers, and was covered with the softest bits of leaf and bark.  It had two eggs in it, quite white, and each about as large as a small sugarplum. 6.  When you approach the spot where one of these birds has built its nest, it is necessary to be careful.  The mother bird will dart at you and try to peck your eyes.  Its sharp beak may hurt your eyes most severely, and even destroy the sight. 7.  The poor little thing knows no other way of defending its young, and instinct teaches it that you might carry off its nest if you could find it.

Lesson XXII.

The wind and the sun. 
A fable.
1.  A dispute once arose between the Wind and the Sun, as
to which was the stronger.

60 Eclectic series. 2.  To decide the matter, they agreed to try their power on a traveler.  That party which should first strip him of his cloak, was to win the day. 3.  The Wind began.  He blew a cutting blast, which tore up the mountain oaks by their roots, and made the whole forest look like a wreck. 4.  But the traveler, though at first he could scarcely keep his cloak on his back, ran under a hill for shelter, and buckled his mantle about