209 



"have some, too. And all, even the little 

 yellow canaries, used to help themselves. 

 This did not please the old mother hen 

 very well, and if she could have gotten 

 out of her box-house, I think she would 

 have chased the birds away. One day a 

 bold blackbird walked into her house to 

 get some grains of corn, when he thought 

 she was not looking. But before he could 

 get out again she pulled three feathers 

 out of his tail and laid them down, as a 

 warning, where all the other birds could 

 see them. I heard the lady afterwards 

 telling the mother hen that she must not 

 l)e so selfish, and the next time she fed the 

 chickens she put several handfuls of corn 

 where the blackbirds could get it, without 

 having their tail-feathers pulled out. I 

 have seen the lady put pieces of string 

 and bits of soft cotton cloth and old rope 

 where the birds could get them, to help 

 make their nests. And I saw her feed- 

 ing a little orphan owl with angle worms. 

 The little owl was very fond of her and 

 sat on her fingers and twisted his neck 

 and winked his great eyes. Whenever 

 he heard her talking he gave a queer little 

 screech, for he knew her voice. He was a 

 great eater and he expected her to give 

 him something to eat every time she went 

 where he was. One day that lady was sit- 

 ting on her porch listening to the birds 

 singing. At one end of the porch was a 

 large lilac bush in full bloom, and I was 

 •enjoying myself among the blossoms. 

 Once in a while I would fly to a flower 

 bed not far from the opposite end of the 

 porch, where there was a big bunch of 

 belladonna with its lovely blue and mauve 

 blossoms. The lady seemed to like lilacs 

 best, for she had fastened a large bunch 

 in her belt, and sat with her hands folded 

 in her lap, dreaming a day dream, I sup- 

 pose. 



Once, on my way from the flower-bed 

 to the lilac bush, I flew up to the bunch of 

 blossoms which the lady had in her belt. 

 You know I am seldom afraid of anything 

 and I knew the dear lady would not harm 

 me. But she seemed very much sur- 

 prised when I stopped at her bunch of 

 blossoms. 'O-o-h !' she said, but very 

 softly, and unclasped her hands in her 

 surprise. I flew away quickly to the lilac 

 bush, and after a while I looked at the 



lady and she was smiling pleasantly and 

 watching me." 



When grandfather Humming Bird had 

 said all this, he flew away to another 

 branch of the oak tree and moved his 

 wings so fast that one could not see how 

 he did it. Papa Swift thanked him for the 

 pleasure he had given by his stories of his 

 last summer's home, and it was finally 

 agreed that the Swifts and Humming 

 Birds should start together for the north 

 in the spring. 



The young birds of both families were 

 anxious for the concert to begin. Papa 

 Swift, who was considered the best singer 

 by everybody, flew to the very top of the 

 oak tree and began his prettiest song. It 

 was not long before several Swifts and 

 Humming Birds had joined him. They 

 all sang and flew from branch to branch. 

 A bird concert is not like one given by 

 children. The children all sing the same 

 song and sing it together, but in a bird 

 concert everyone sings to please himself. 

 Pie begins just when he feels like it, and 

 sings his own song. But for all that, a 

 bird concert is very pretty music. Some 

 proud birds, who were spending the af- 

 ternoon near by, and who had better 

 voices than the ones in the oak tree, pre- 

 tended that they did not Hke such a 

 "noise," as they called it, and flew away 

 across the river. But this did not keep 

 the Swifts and Humming Birds from en- 

 joying themselves. 



Before the time for good-byes came they 

 promised to see each other often, and ev- 

 eryone promised to be ready to go away 

 in the spring. Little Cyprelus dreamed 

 that night of the pleasant times she would 

 have the next summer in the pretty place 

 grandfather Humming Bird had told 

 about, and Coquette and Topaza said they 

 wondered if the lady who lived by the 

 beautiful lake would have as many flow- 

 er-beds this summer as she had last. 



Now this lady, whom grandfather 

 Humming Bird liad been telling about, 

 was Aunt Dorothy. She was a great bird 

 lover, and it made her happy to find that 

 she could number the Swifts among her 

 particular bird friends when they came 

 the next summer to Hve in her yard. 



One morning Aunt Dorothy waked up 

 verv earlv. She looked out of her eastern 



