THE DOCTOR'S WONDER ROOM 13 



one of your fingers with your jack-knife, to see if you 

 could do it, or liow it is made ? " 



" Why, no, uncle, it would hurt, and I couldn't put 

 it on again, and it Avouldn't do me any good anyway, 

 for I could find out about it by asking a doctor, without 

 hurting myself." 



" Yes, that is right ; and for the present you can 

 learn en.ougli about birds without shooting them your- 

 self, and if you learn your lesson well you will never 

 shoot a song-bird." 



" May we see the book you are writing. Uncle Roy, 

 and learn all about the birds out of it ? " 



" It is written in words too long and difficult for you 

 to understand. Here is a page on the desk — see if 

 you can read it." 



Nat stood by the Doctor's chair, but the longer he 

 looked at the page the more puzzled he became, and at 

 last he said, " I think, if you please, I'd rather have a 

 book with only the birds' plain American names." 

 Then he spelled out slowly, '' C-y-a-n-o-c-i-t-t-a c-r-i- 

 s-t-a-t-a. Why, that's Latin, but it only means Blue 

 Jay." 



" Couldn't you write a little book for us, uncle — 

 just a common little book, all in plain words ?" pleaded 

 Dodo. " There's plenty of paper here, and of course 

 the know-how is all in your head ; because Olive says 

 you know about every bird that lives in our America 

 — and then you need not put them quite all in our 

 book." 



" Bless your innocent heart ! How many different 

 kinds of birds do you think there are in 'our America,' 

 my little Yankee ? " 



