the dentist. Dr. Raven was considered the very best dentist. So off went Mr. Owl to his office in the pine tree. When he arrived there he saw Dr. Raven busily fixing Mrs. Crow's teeth. She was leaning back on a stump of wood which Dr. Raven used as his dental chair. She had a rubber band over her mouth and looked very miserable. It quite frightened Mr. Owl, but he tried to be brave and sat down, put on his spectacles and began to read one of Dr. Raven's magazines. In a few moments Mrs. Crow got out of the chair, and Dr. Raven said, 'I'm ready for you now, Mr. Owl.' So Mr. Owl took off his spectacles, got into Dr. Raven's chair and leaned his head back. 'Open wide,' said Dr. Raven. Mr. Owl opened his mouth as wide as he could, and Dr. Raven looked inside. First he looked over his upper teeth, then over his lower teeth, and finally he began to poke at one back tooth with such energy that Mr. Owl screamed, 'That's my sore tooth, and you're hurting it terribly!

'

"'Yes,' said Dr. Raven; 'the tooth is a wisdom tooth, and it is much inflamed, so I'll take it out right away.' He reached for his pinchers, but Mr. Owl said: 'If you take out my wisdom tooth I'll lose my wisdom, and I'm known all over the world for my wisdom. I simply won't have it.'

"And before Dr. Raven had a chance to speak Mr. Owl had jumped out of the chair and flown off. When he got home his tooth still hurt, but the next morning it felt much better, and the next day it was all well. 'I know what all the trouble was,' said Mr. Owl. 'I ate too much candy. I'll never eat too much again, for I cannot lose any of my wisdom teeth when I'm known as the wisest bird.'"

"Daddy," said Jack, "your story would be a very good one, only owls don't have teeth." Daddy smiled, and as the children laughingly went to bed, Evelyn said her toothache had gone.

THE SOLOIST OF THE BIRD CONCERT

He Sang His Song Several Times.

The birds had begun their early morning concerts. "I know why," said daddy. "It is because they have been practising for their opening concert of the season which they gave this morning and which I am going to tell you about this evening. They have been practising hard every morning.

"The vireos, having such lovely voices and being devoted to music, got it up and made all the arrangements. Yesterday, the day before the concert, they scratched signs on the trees, which in the bird world read:

"'Concert in the village park to-morrow morning at 6 o'clock. All those who are taking part will, of course, be present. Those who are not taking part will be invited to attend. Splendid music. Good seats. Feature of concert to be the soloist. The name of the soloist will not be made known until the concert.'

"All the birds were tremendously excited when they read that, for it was all a surprise arranged by the vireos. They were the only ones who knew who the soloist was to be. At the rehearsals even the soloist had not appeared.

"At last the time for the concert came. All the birds were up very early that morning, fussing to look their very best.

"Most of the birds sat around on the grass, but some of them had reserved boxes in the trees.

"The program for the concert was delightful. The robins sang in chorus, as did the chirping sparrows. The warblers sang quartets and duets. Several of the chickadees gave little solos. The thrushes and the vireos appeared many times on the program. They were encored again and again and were greatly pleased.

"The soloist was to appear the very last. A vireo came out and announced to the audience that the soloist, being slightly nervous, would not stand before them and sing, but would sing from a very short distance.

"Then they heard from a neighboring tree the strange, lonely song of the whippoorwill. He sang his song several times over, and the applause was terrific. The birds were charmed, absolutely charmed.

"The whippoorwill was very modest and didn't see why they liked his solo at all. He had really been very shy about appearing at the concert. But he was encouraged by the vireos, who, as a rule, are nervous, too, when they appear in public.

"At the conclusion of the concert a vote of thanks was given the vireos for the crowning success of their concert and an additional vote of thanks for their splendid soloist."

THE ROBINS OPEN A SPRING SHOP

The Robins Agreed It was a Good Scheme.

"The robins, having left their warm winter home, had settled near a great, big, lovely park," said daddy. "Now, one of the robins happened to be a very practical old bird. He suggested that they shouldn't spend all their time singing, especially now, before the summer came. Then he thought it was all right to play and sing all day. But it would be nicer now, he thought, to do a little work.

"The old robin's idea was that certain robins every morning should start out and dig up worms, for then they could get more than they wanted and could help supply the flocks and flocks of newcomers. Then other robins could go into the woods and get the new little berries that had just come up, and the rest of the robins would keep a shop in the biggest tree of the park. All the birds would do their shopping there in the most central place.

"All the robins agreed that it would be an excellent scheme and so much better than idling away all their time.

"As soon as a new flock of birds would come to the park the other birds would tell them about the shop of the robins, and off they would fly to it. And such good things as the robins all had in their shop! It kept them pretty busy hurrying around to get enough provisions to last for all of their customers as well as themselves. But they thoroughly enjoyed being so busy and decided that there was nothing in the world like work. At night they would feel so much better than if they'd been idle all day, and then they felt as if they had really been doing some good, for it was a great, great help to all of the other birds. You can imagine how they wouldn't be able to find things so quickly and they wouldn't know right away where the softest earth was so as to dig for the worms.

"Of course some of the early bird families did arrive as early as the robins, but the robins were the thoughtful and unselfish ones who thought of the other birds."

"Did they charge anything for the things they sold?" asked Jack.

"No," said daddy; "the old robin said that birds should never charge each other anything, and, besides, they really felt that the work was doing them good and that then they'd enjoy the summer all the more.

"And the other birds certainly did appreciate what the robins were doing for them.

"The shop of the robins grew to be just like a daily party, for all the birds would fly there every day just about the same time, and after they had picked out the berries and the worms that struck their fancies they'd stay around and chirp and chat with the robins and each other."

THE RACE BETWEEN THE SECRETARY BIRDS