A MEEEY PIPER. 



Sometimes it is unfortunate for a bird to 

 have brightly colored plumes. They make 

 him a desirable pet, and so he is pursued by 

 nest hunters and trappers, and often put into 

 a cage for life. This is the case with our 

 pretty and rollicking redbird, the cardinal 

 grossbeak, whose loud whistle may be heard 

 almost any day coming from the copse or the 

 woods. 



He is so happy out of doors, so full of win- 

 some ways, and he pipes so gayly, it seems 

 strange that any one can have the heart to de- 

 prive him of his liberty. How his red bosom 

 must flutter with longing as he looks out from 

 his wire prison at the bushy hillsides smiling 

 in the sun, where he might flit about with free- 

 dom and delight ! 



Perhaps you would care to know where the 

 cardinal bird, as he is often called, finds a home. 

 I will tell you where I have found him. Here 

 in southwestern Ohio there is scarcely a woods, 



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