OVERTURE BY THE BIRDS 5 



"I know all about it," cried the Swift, settling him- 

 self for a long talk. 



" I've seen the House People! " screamed the Catbird. 



" They wish well to the Bird People, and we shall be 

 happier than before ! " squeaked the Swift, breathless 

 and eager. "Listen! " — and the birds all huddled to- 

 gether. " This morning when I flew down the chim- 

 ney, wondering if I should dare build my nest there 

 again, I heard a noise on the outside, so I dropped as 

 far as I could and listened. 



" A voice said, ' Mammy Bun, we will leave this 

 chimney for the birds ; do not make a fire here until 

 after they have nested! ' I was so surprised that 1 

 nearly fell into the grate." 



" And I," interrupted the Catbird, '' Avas looking in 

 the window and saw the man who spoke, and Mammy 

 Bun too. She is a very big person, wide like a wood- 

 chuck, and has a dark face like the House People down 

 in the warm country where I spend the winter." 



" There are children at the farm, I've seen them too," 

 cried the Phoebe, who usually lived under the eaves of 

 the cow-shed; "three of them — one big girl, one little 

 girl, and a boy! " 



"I told you so! " lisped the Barn Swallow; and a 

 chorus of ohs and ahs arose that sounded like a strange 

 message buzzing along the wires. 



" The BOY has a pocket full of pebbles and a sJiooter^'' 

 gasped the Phoebe, pausing as if nothing more shocking 

 could be said. 



" Yes, but the big girl coaxed the shooter away from 

 him," said the Chimney Swift, Avho was quite provoked 

 because his story had been interrupted; "she said. 



