THE BIRTHDAY PARTY 13 



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my visitors as they came and went. The gum saplings near 

 the fence were really the reception room, for here most of them 

 came and called their good wishes to me. Amongst the 

 earliest arrivals were the chick-ups, and though they were very 

 hearty in their greetings I didn't think it quite good taste for 

 them to call so loudly, " She's-up, she's-up, she's-up," as if it 

 were something quite unusual. The little tits, too, were not 

 very polite, for they kept on flying in and out, expressing their 

 surprise, with a fussy " Tsz-tsz !" like a great-aunt who has 

 just heard something amazing. 



The silvereyes were much nicer ; they simply sang the 

 sweetest song without words, and I could fit any meaning I 

 liked to it. And the blue wrens were dears, too; they didn't 

 stay in the saplings, but hopped right across the grass to me 

 with a real gush of welcome. Then a shrike-tit came, dressed 

 in his party clothes, and, though he didn't say much, his bright 

 yellow vest and black and white-striped head lent quite an air 

 to the scene. The thrushes and the butcher birds came up 

 from the valley, and stayed a little while in the saplings to sing 

 a birthday song; and a razor-grinder stopped a few minutes 

 on the fence, and, instead of his usual harsh scold, uttered a 

 few, soft tender notes. He couldn't scold me on my birthday, 

 for no one must be cross then. 



As I sat lazily enjoying my party and the dancing sun- 

 beams and the little white clouds sailing over the blue sky, it 

 seemed more like summer than mid-winter. I was just think- 



