Homing With the Birds 



CHAPTER I 



Earning a Title 



4 LMOST my first distinct memory is con- 

 /_% nee ted with a bird. I found a woodpecker 

 -X L lying on the grass beneath a cherry tree. 

 I could not understand why he did not fly with 

 the birds flocking over the fruit; I spread his 

 wings and tossed him through the air, but he only 

 fell to the ground. Then I noticed that his kind 

 were all flying from the tree tops and high places, 

 so I carried him upstairs and launched him from 

 a window. He fell as before. Then I thought 

 perhaps he was hungry; I took him to the 

 garden, pried open his beak, and stuffed him 

 with green gooseberries, but still he would not 

 fly. In complete discouragement, I sat on the 

 front steps with the bird in my lap, wondering 

 what I could do to help him. My father passed, 

 so I began asking questions. That morning I 

 learned a new word; I had not known "dead" 

 before. Father very carefully explained that he 

 never permitted robins, orioles, or any song bird 



3 



