Stories of Birds Part 3

Chilly little chickadees, Sitting in a row, Chilly little chickadees, Buried in the snow, Don't you find it very cold For your little feet?

Don't you find it hard to get Anything to eat?

Hungry little chickadees, Would you like some bread?

I will give you all you want, Or some seed, instead, Anything you like to eat I will give you free, Every morning, every night, If you come to me.

Jolly little chickadees, Have you had enough?

Don't forget to come again When the weather's rough.

Bye, bye, happy little birds!

Off the wee things swarm, Plying through the driving snow, Singing in the storm.

[1] From "Songs and Games for Little Ones," by permission of Oliver Ditson Company, owners of the copyright.

ALL ABOUT THE CHICKADEE

SUGGESTIONS FOR FIELD LESSONS.

Does not go south in winter.

Song--two or three clear long whistles and the chirping of his own name, "chickadee."

A gay, curious little bird.

Black head and throat--sides of head and neck white--breast grayish buff--wings and tail darker shade edged with white--larger feathers of shoulders white.

Food--seeds and dormant insects or larval eggs.--Valuable as an insect destroyer.

Builds in hollow places--usually deserted woodp.e.c.k.e.rs' or squirrels'

nests--sometimes hollows place for itself.

Six white eggs speckled with red--young birds, male and female much alike in colouring.

ROBIN REDBREAST

MERRY ROBIN REDBREAST

"Robin, robin redbreast, Singing on the bough, Come and get your breakfast, We will feed you now.

Robin likes the golden grain, Nods his head and sings again: 'Chirping, chirping cheerily, Here I come so merrily, Thank you, children dear!'"

Thus sang Phyllis one morning during the second week in March.

In the topmost bough of the old apple-tree sat Robin Redbreast, looking altogether doubtful as to whether he liked the little girl's song.

But when he saw the grains of wheat which the child was scattering on the ground for his breakfast, he thought better of his doubt.

He hopped lower on the branches. He turned his little head on one side and looked at Phyllis in a very friendly fas.h.i.+on.

"Come on down!" Phyllis begged. "I am so glad that you have returned.

I am so glad that you came to this very apple-tree and sang so strong and loud and clear!"

"Chirp! Chirp!" and the robin hopped again nearer.

"You see," Phyllis went on, in her coaxing little voice, "my brother Jack, being a boy, said he would be the one to see the first robin this year.

"But I made up my mind that if watchful eyes and careful ears could help a little girl, I would get ahead of Jack.

"Sure enough, the first thing I heard this morning was your sweet song.

When did you arrive? Aren't you rather early?"

By this time the robin was on the ground, pecking away at the grain.

As he ate his breakfast he told his story.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "By this time the robin was on the ground" (missing from book)]

"I have been south all winter long," he said. "It is very lovely in the southland. Food is plenty, the days are long, and the suns.h.i.+ne is golden, bright, and warm.

"But as soon as the spring days came I grew restless. I knew the snow was beginning to melt and the gra.s.s to grow green in my old home country. I wanted to start north at once.

"I spoke to my little mate about it, and found her to be as homesick as I. So we flew north a little earlier than usual this year, and arrived ahead of the others. We are now quite anxious to get to housekeeping, and are already looking for a suitable place for a nest."

"If you will build near us," said Phyllis, "I will help you care for your little ones. I will give you all the crumbs that you can eat."

"Oh! oh!" chirped the robin; "you are very kind, Phyllis, but I hardly think you would know how to feed bird babies.

"You see our babies are so fond of bugs and worms and all sorts of insects, that they do not care for crumbs when they can have nice fat worms.

"We sometimes feed berries and cherries to our babies. We older birds often eat fruit, but really we like worms and bugs better."

"The robins ate all the cherries from the top of our cherry-tree last year," said Phyllis.

"Yes, we did eat some of your cherries," admitted the robin. "They were very sweet and juicy.

"There are people who say that we robins are a nuisance, and that we destroy so much fruit that they wish we would never come near them.

The fact is, we do more good than harm to your orchards and berry patches. Just think how many insects we destroy! If it were not for us I think much more fruit would be destroyed by insects. And worms and caterpillars would be crawling everywhere.

"A robin is a very greedy fellow. He eats nearly all the time. I could not begin to tell you how many insects I have eaten during my life.

"There are cutworms, too, which live underground. During the night they come out for food. We robins are early risers, and often catch the slow worms before they can get back to their underground homes."

"Ah," laughed Phyllis, "that must be the reason that we say that the early bird catches the worm."