Or sleep in a dried-up ditch,
You could never be poor as the fairies are,
And never as rich.

Since ever and ever the world began
They have danced like a ribbon of flame,
They have sung their song through the centuries long,
And yet it is never the same.
And though you be foolish or though you be wise,
With hair of silver or gold,
You could never be young as the fairies are
And never as old.

R. F.

* * * * *

RARA AVIS.

From a cigarette-card:--

"REED WARBLER.

"_Acrocephalus streperus._

"This bird is found in nearly every part of the British Islands.
It builds a nest about a foot off the ground in the reed beds,
and is formed of grass, horse hair and sometimes feathers."

* * * * *