• Waterfall
• At I. F. S.
• Always in my heart
• My Brother
• A Nightmare
• My Grandfather
• The Peoples of the World - Stamp News
• The Structure of Birds - Nature Watch

Waterfall 

Sucharya Subhashi Amugoda  
St. Paul's Balika Vidyalaya  
Milagiriya  

At I. F. S. 

So far from the horizon 
We met at the Hantana Peak. 
No one knew what to expect. 
One smile .....a brief meeting. 
Beginning of friendships for lifetime 
Lab tours, Laser experiments 
We discovered the worlds beyond 
Stars...... moons.............. far away galaxies 
Sweet memories to linger in hearts for ever 
knowledge among the dead bodies 
Butter, Margarine, fraunhofer lines and Emission of light memories to take with for ever 
questions no one bothered to answer 
questions no one knew the answer 
Snakes, Dental Caries and tea time concerts 
The memories are so special 
For us who shared the cakes 
As there's a rainbow at every shower's end 
Beautiful memories last for ever 

By Tayani Chathurika G. Punchihewa,Girls High School  
Kandy  

Always in my heart 

By Anudinee Munathanthri  
Visakha Vidyalaya  

My Brother 

Nilupul Fernandopulle  
Maris stella College, Negombo  

A Nightmare 

I was almost asleep when I hard a noise in the garden. I went to the window and looked out. I could see no one about. As I was going to bed my room door burst open and in came my three friends. Behind them somone came with a knife in his hand. Did I say his? Really I didn't know whether the person is a he or a she beacause the person was wearing a cap and if it was a girl it would have been easy for her to fold her hair and wear the cap. All my fiends could keep shouting 'save us, he wants to kil us'. I couldn't do anything. The person came closer to us. Suddenly he spoke. It was a man's voice. 

"Now I have all four of you" he said. He pulled one of my friends closer to him, and as he drew the knife to kill her I screamed. I opend my eyes and saw my parent trying to wake me up. hat was the worst dream I ever had. I told to myself never to read horror stories in the night, again. 

Thev. Abramee Arullingam,  
Methodist College,  
Colombo 3.  

My Grandfather 

My Grandfather lives in Kolonnawa. He is very kind and loving. He helps many people. My grandfather loves my sister and me very much. We also love him dearly. He always buys me what I want. 

Shakir Tharick  
Wesley College Colombo 8.  

Stamp News  

The Peoples of the World 

By Uncle DCR 

When the Charter of the United Nations came into force on 24 October 1945, it heralded the birth of the United Nations as a universal international organization created to maintain peace and security and to work for social progress. A UN note states that while the efforts of the world's people working through the United Nations have not always met with success, they have made a difference - in de-colonization, economic and social development, human rights, emergency relief, disarmament, peace-keeping, and the emergence of free and democratically elected governments. 

The United Nations also provides international coordination and fosters cooperation in such diverse fields such as air and sea transport, use of seas and outer space, telecommunications, the posts, health, atomic energy, meteorology, protection of children, the environment, and safeguarding our world cultural heritage. 

Those who drafted the Charter intended that it be an organization dedicated to the peoples of the world. Thus the UN Day in 1995 (50th anniversary day) was dedicated to all of those people with the issue of this unusual set of stamps. The vertical sheet of 12 stamps has four marginal inscriptions, two in the left and two in the right margin.The inscription consists of the United Nations 50th anniversary emblem with the text 'UNITED NATIONS' and the years '1945-1995.' 

The stamps were designed by Ben Verkaaik of the Netherlands, a graduate of the Visual School of Arts, Rotterdam, who had worked as an illustrator, designer and art director. He created one piece of artwork for the entire sheet of stamps - a beautiful painting illustrating the peoples of the world broken down into 12 different stamps. A total of 34 portraits appear on the sheet. 

The Structure of Birds 

The thigh bone is hidden beneath the feathers, and what looks like a bird's knee is in fact its ankle. The toes are long and form the bird's claws, or webs may grow between them for swimming. The rib cage is comparatively small, but the breastbone is large because it serves to anchor the big and powerful flight muscles to the skeleton. 

These muscles drive the wings and give a bird a plump breast. 

Although it contains a mass of bones packed tightly together, a bird's body is not heavy, for it has to be lifted easily into the air. 

The bones are in fact hollow and therefore light. Inside, they are crisscrossed with thin struts to give strength . 

A bird has large lungs and hollow spaces called air-sacs inside its body. The lungs and air-sacs not only help to lighten the body, but also provide the bird with large amounts of air for breathing. This is vital during flying when the bird needs plenty of oxygen. Flying produces lots of body heat, and the air inside the body carries the extra heat away. 

Birds have one particular feature that no other animal possesses, and that is feathers. Strong feathers called contour feathers cover the body and form the wings and tail. 

They protect the body from damage, and give the bird the ability to fly. Beneath the contour feathers are fluffy down feathers that keep the body warm when the bird is resting. All feathers are made from keratin, the same substance that is in our hair and nails. 

How birds fly  

Birds either flap their wings to move through the air, or stretch out their wings to glide or soar. When a bird flaps its wings, it pushes air down to keep itself up, and it pushes air backwards so that it moves forwards. To get into the air to begin its flight, it either jumps from the ground or leaps from a high perch. Some birds like to take a run to get moving, and water birds may splash over the surface to become airborne. 

Many birds can stay aloft almost without moving their wings at all. Albatrosses soar over the waves and vultures circle in the sky. 

These birds glide at a slight downward angle to keep moving. As their wings slice through the air, the movement of air over the curved surfaces of the wings gives lift to the birds and keeps them up in the air. The birds meet rising currents of air that carry them higher. 

Some birds can hover in the air. A few, like the kestrel, head into the wind at the same speed as the wind blows them back. In this way, they stay over the same spot. 

Hummingbirds can truly hover, whirling their tiny wings to and fro to stop themselves moving forwards. They can even fly backwards if necessary. 

The senses of birds  

Birds have the same senses that we have, but some may be better developed than ours and others less so. In general, birds have good sight and hearing, but their sense of smell is poor. 

Many birds are brightly coloured and most birds can see in colour. Nocturnal birds do not need colour vision and see in shades of grey. 

Birds that hunt other animals have very keen sight - as much as ten times sharper than our vision. Owls have their eyes placed towards the front of the head so that they can easily locate their prey. 

This prey is often a plant-eating bird or one that feeds on the ground. These birds have eyes at the sides of their heads so that they can see all round and spot an enemy coming towards them. 

Birds do not have ears as we do, but they hear through openings that lie beneath the feathers behind the eyes. Birds "talk" with each other by singing and need to hear well. 

Owls hunt by night, and use their very keen hearing to find their victims by the quiet rustling noises they make as they move. 

Birds have nostrils at the base of their beaks, but they use them more for breathing than they do for smelling. 

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