no Bird - Lore 



Eighth Speaker: "Soft-shelled turtles are laying their eggs in the sand. 

 Snakes have come out from their winter hiding, and are hunting for mice in 

 the fields, or for toads and frogs near water." 



Ninth Speaker: "Fishes lay eggs, too. The shad has come in from the 

 ocean. Schools of mackerel are coming. The black bass is making its shallow 

 nest near the sandy lakeshore." 



Tenth Speaker: "Along the coast, crabs and shrimps are making their 

 way inland, and will soon be shedding their shells. In Long Island Sound, 

 lobsters are laying their eggs now, but it may be summer before there are 

 any young lobsters in the northern waters of Nova Scotia." 



Last Speaker steps to middle of semicircle and says : 



"Is Summer real and coming. 

 With its waving green and its herds? 

 For the greatest good the Winter can bring 

 Is the hope in me of returning Spring, 

 And the joyous song of the birds." 



— From "Winter." William G. Barton. 

 Class forms and marches. 



MUSIC 

 Class III. The Message of the Birds. 

 Single Speaker, acting as leader: 



"The skies can't keep their secret! 



They tell it to the hills. 

 The hills just tell the orchards 



And they the daffodils! 

 A bird, by chance, that goes that way 



Soft overhead the whole. 



If I should bribe the little bird, 



Who knows but she would tell?" 



— Emily Dickinson. 



Each speaker carries a colored picture of the bird he describes. 



First Speaker: "While May bedecks the naked trees 



With tassels and embroideries. 



And many blue-eyed violets beam 



Along the edges of the stream, 



I hear a voice that seems to say. 



Now near at hand, now far away, 



'Witchery — witchery — witchery!' " 



— From "The Maryland Yellowthroat." Henry Van Dyke. 



All: "The Maryland Yellowthroat!" 



