BIRD STORIES 



the little chap begging '' Kah ! kah ! kah ! " was old enough 

 to do more than ''gubble" the food that was poked into 

 his big throat. But for all that, when the Brown-eyed 

 Boy forgot the dish of earthworms and ran off to play, 

 Corbie would listen until he could hear no one near, and 

 then cock his bright eye down over the wriggling worms. 

 Then, very slyly, he would pick one up with a jerk and 

 catch it back into his mouth. One by one he would eat 

 the worms, until he wanted no more; and then he would 

 hide the rest by poking them into cracks or covering 

 them with chips, crooning the while over his secret 

 joke. ''There-there-tuck-it-there," was what his croon 

 sounded like; but if the Brown-eyed Boy or the Blue- 

 eyed Girl came near, he would flutter out his wings at his 

 sides and lift his open beak, his teasing ''Kah" seem- 

 ing to say, "Honest, I have n't had a bite to eat since 

 you fed me last." 



When his body was grown so big with his stuffing 

 that he was almost a full-sized crow, he stopped his con- 

 stant begging for food. The days of his greed were only 

 the days of his growth needs, and the world was too full 

 of adventures to spend all his time just eating. 



It was now time for him to take pleasure in his sense 

 of sight, and for a few weeks he went nearly crazy with 

 joy over yellow playthings. He strewed the vegetable 

 garden with torn and tattered squash-blossoms — gor- 



110 



