1 88 Trails to Woods and Waters 



pigeons were cooing, and the rooster was 

 crowing as though he would split his throat, 

 but his real object was to crow so loud that 

 his rival could hear him a quarter of a mile 

 away. 



The birds were all busy flying to and fro 

 with the most important air, as it was nest 

 building time. 



Really there was some excuse for their 

 seeming importance. Most of the human 

 family build a new house once in a lifetime, 

 but many of the birds build a new one each 

 spring. 



Just as old Ben and I got over the stone 

 wall in the pasture, we heard a cock partridge 

 drumming, which is always an interesting 

 sound in the spring, for then it means some- 

 thing. 



" I know that old fellow," said Ben. " His 

 drumming log isn't very far from the fence; 

 perhaps we will get a glimpse of him. He is 

 a very old cock and I have seen him drum- 

 ming several times. I know he is old because 

 the feathers on his legs grow down very low. 



