Catoctin clarion., 1918-06-06

ried, and when he marries in honor of
the occasion his black feathers on
the top Of his head turn into white,
soft, downy feathers-just like big,
full flower. He calls 1t his wedding
suit, and he wears it for some little
time. At no other time, but just when
he is getting married, does the ant
thrush wear such fine headdress.
"Now Mr.. Ant Thrush was about six
inches long and very graceful-he
wore lovely slate-colored suit, and
his headdress would appear and dis
appear all the time. 1t made him look
very beautiful and at the same time
very strange.
"Mrs. Ant Thrush wore lovely
brown dress. But I must tell you
about their mouths-or rather their
beaks-for the man was so delighted
with the usual way their beaks went
up In the air. They curved straight
up, and the man thought probably they
would always have to stand on their
heads when they ate or drank. But
as they looked very well fed, he didn't
worry about that.
"Let's be starting, then said the
man. we have very long trip be-
fore us and you want to take it slow
when you arrive
"The ant thrushes thought 1t was
perfectly splendid to be taken such
care of. They loved being thought so
rare and wonderful.
but suddenly it dawned on Mrs.
Ant Thrust that she was leaving all
her family behind, and while she was
very devoted to Mr.. Ant Thrush, she
thought 1t would be lonely without
some Of her sisters and brothers and
cousins.
"She began to cry quite hard, and
the man hadn't any idea what the trou-
BILE could be.
"Even In the far off lands though,
there are little fairies always around
to see what they can do, and they
whispered to the man:
"'Mrs. Ant Thrush wants some of
her nearest cousins and relatives to
20 along too. Now she is sorry she
has said she will 60 because she thinks
she will be so lonely
..That pleased the man more than
very fine to have whole family of
rare birds with him, and he at once
invited Mrs. Ant Thrush to ask any
of her family she wanted, so there
was great rejoicing all around and
whole family OF ant thrushes went
to the new land to be admired.
"Later on, as you can imagine, many
of the handsome Miss Ant Thrushes
and the beautiful Mr.. Ant Thrushes
married and when they did every single
Mr.. Ant Thrush wore his wedding suit
of soft white downy feathers.
"Of course, we wouldn't call 1t a
suit-for only his black feathers at
the top Of his head would change into
white, but every Mr.. Ant Thrust con-
sidered that such marvellous and
wonderful change was worth calling
by a fine name in honor of a fine Oc-
casion, and in truth such change
does deserve the fine and honorable
name of a wedding suit.
"And everyone in the new land to
which they came said they thought
they were the most curious family of
birds ever seen or ever heard of! And
every ant thrush was glad and proud
to belong to such a family"
suez Canal Long Planned
The history Of Suez goes far back
into Egyptian times. At various times,
the projects were abandoned and the
canals permitted to fill up. When MAJ
poleon invaded Egypt, he revived the
plan for the establishment of Il mari
time canal and ordered survey to be
made. AT that time, it was generally
believed that the Red sea was 80 feet
higher than the Mediterranean. but
careful dwellings across the isthmus
showed them to be practically the
same height. Napoleon did not build
the canal, however, and de Lesseps
presented his scheme to the viceroy
of Egypt 1t was delayed by politi
cal opposition, until an international
commission recommended the route
which was afterward adopted, the ne
cessary capital was raised and the
work was begun.