52 CITIZEN BIRD 



nation, especially of a republic ; one who owes allegiance 

 to a government and is entitled to protection from it." 



''Now, if you listen carefully I think I can prove to 

 you that every bird you can find is such a citizen of 

 this country, and show you why we should protect him. 



" I told you the other day how the body of a bird 

 was planned and built to fill a place no other animal 

 could take. Thus by his habits and character every 

 bird fills a place as a citizen of our Republic, keeping 

 the laws and doing work for the land that House Peo- 

 ple, with all their wisdom, cannot do. Every such 

 fellow-animal of ours, besides having e3^es to see with, 

 and a l)rain which, if it does not tell him as many things 

 as our brains tell us, yet teaches him all that he need 

 know to follow the laws that Heart of Nature has set 

 for him, has the same feelings and affections as our- 

 selves. Parent birds love each other and their little 

 ones, and often lose their lives in trying to protect 

 them. They build their homes with as much care and 

 skill as House People use in making theirs. Then 

 they work hard, very hard indeed, to collect food to 

 teed their children, for bird children are, oh, so hungry! 

 They grow very quickly, and must eat constantly from 

 morning until night. 



" With them it is breakfast, luncheon, dinner, five- 

 o'clock tea, and su])per, with a great many other meals 

 between times that would not be wholesome for House 

 Children. So you can see for yourselves that we may 

 well call the bird a fellow-being." 



"Yes," said Rap, his eyes beaming as if he had 

 something to tell, " some birds work as hard as motlier 

 does. I watched a pair of Robins all one day last 



