THE BIRD OF SOCIETY. 



The blackbird loves to be one 

 of a great flock. He talks, sings 

 or scolds from morning until 

 night. He cannot keep still. He 

 will only stay alone with his 

 family a few months in the sum- 

 mer. That is the reason he is 

 called the ^' Bird of Society." 

 When he is merry, he gaily 

 sings, " Conk-quer-ree." AYhen 

 he is angry or frightened he 

 screams, " Chock ! Chock ! " 

 AYhen he is flying or bathing he 

 gives a sweet note which sounds 

 like ee-u-u. He can chirp — 

 chick, check, chuck, to his little 

 ones as softly as any other bird. 

 But only his best friends ever 

 hear his sweetest tones, for the 

 Blackbirds do not know how to 

 be polite. They all talk at once. 

 That is why most people think 

 they only scream and chatter. 

 Did you ever hear the black- 

 birds in the cornfields? If the 

 farmers thought about it per- 

 haps they would feel that part 

 of every corn crop belongs to the 

 Blackbirds. When the corn is 

 young, the farmer cannot see the 

 grubs which are eating the young 

 plants. The Blackbirds can. 

 They feed them to their babies 

 — many thousands in a day. 

 That is the way the crops are 

 saved for the farmer. But he 

 never thinks of that. Later when 

 the Blackbirds come for their 

 share of the corn the farmer 



says, ^^No, they shall not have 

 my corn. I must stop that 

 quickly." Perhaps the Black- 

 birds said the same thing to 

 the grubs in the spring. It is 

 hard to- have justice for everyone. 



In April the Blackbird and his 

 mate leave the noisy company. 

 They seek a cosy home near the 

 water where they can be quiet 

 until August. They usually 

 choose a swampy place among 

 low shrubs and rushes. Here 

 in the deep nest of coarse grass, 

 moss and mud the mother bird 

 lays her five eggs. They are 

 very pretty — light blue with pur- 

 ple and black markings. Their 

 friends say this is the best time 

 to watch the blackbirds. In the 

 flock they are all so much alike 

 we cannot tell one from another. 

 You would like to hear of some 

 of the wise things Blackbirds 

 do when they are tame. 



One friend of the birds turned 

 her home into a great open bird 

 cage. Her chair was the favor- 

 ite perch of her birds. She 

 never kept them one minute 

 longer than they wanted to stay. 

 Y^et her home was always full. 

 This was Olive Thorne Miller. 

 If you care to, you might ask 

 mother to get '^ Bird AYays " and 

 read you what she says about 

 this " bird of society " and the 

 other birds of this book. 



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