A TRIBE OF WEED WARRIORS 



225 



grass, near the dining-room window. They had vel- 

 vety brown caps on, and said 'chip, chip, chip' as 

 they hopped along, and as they didn't seem afraid of 

 me I threw out some bread-crumbs and they picked 

 them up. Then I knew, to begin with, that they must 

 be seed-eating birds." 



''How did you know that?" asked Nat. "Bread- 

 crumbs aren't seeds ! " 



" No, but bread is made of ground-up wheat-seed ! 

 Don't you remember Olive said so last week 

 when she told us about all the grains? " 



" Yes," said Nat reluctantly. 



" Birds that won't eat seeds jff' 

 won't eat bread-crumbs 

 either," contin- 

 ued Dodo ear- 

 nestly ; " 'cause I tried 

 Wood Thrushes with 

 bread-crumbs last week 

 and they simply turned up their 

 noses at them." 



Rap and Nat laughed at the 

 idea of birds turning up their 

 noses, but the Doctor said: 



" Very good indeed. Miss Dodo, you are learning to 

 use your eyes and your reason at the same time. Tell 

 us some more about your Chippies." 



" At first I didn't know what they were, and then 

 they seemed like some kind of Sparrows ; so I went to 

 the wonder room and looked at some of the books that 

 you left out on the low shelf for us. 1 couldn't find 

 any picture that matched, but then I began to read 

 Q 



Chipping Sparrow. 



