68 CITIZEN BIRD 



plain in different ways. I think that the love of the 

 place where they were born is strong enough in birds 

 to bring them back every season to build their nests. 

 So you see that Citizen Bird is a patriot ; for, though 

 he may be in the midst of plenty in a tropical forest, 

 when the time comes he travels hundreds of miles to 

 his native land to make the young, that will fly from 

 his nest, citizens like himself." 



" But the birds that can eat seeds and other things 

 do not travel so far, do they ? " asked Rap. 



" No, the birds who rove about the United States 

 throughout the year are either Weed Warriors, or Seed 

 Sowers, or those Tree Trappers who creep about tree- 

 trunks picking the eggs and grubs of insects from the 

 bark. Or else those great Cannibal Birds, the Wise 

 Watchers, who eat the flesh of their smaller brothers, 

 as well as of rats, mice, and all such vermin — the 

 Hawks and Owls ; or else they are Gulls, Terns, Fish- 

 ing Ducks, and a great many other kinds of sea birds 

 who feed on fisli and pick up the scraps floating on the 

 surface of sea, lake, and river." 



" Do the Barn Swallows that are making nests 

 in the hayloft go as far south as Kingbirds ? " asked 

 Nat. 



" Yes, indeed ! The Swallows' swift flight carries 

 them far and wide, for not only do they make homes 

 all through North America, but they are so sure of 

 wing and confident of outstripping any cannibal birds 

 wlio might try to chase them, that when they leave us 

 they fly by day and often stop for a little visit in the 

 West Indies on their Avay to South America." 



" Suppose, Uncle Roy, when they are travelling, a 



