The Burgess Bird Book for Children 



presently they disappeared behind the trees along 

 the bank of the Great River. Peter gave a happy 

 little sigh. "They are going to spend the night 

 there," thought he. "When the moon comes up, 

 I will run over there, for they will come ashore and 

 I know just where. Now that they have arrived 

 I know that winter is not far away. Honker's 

 voice is as sure a sign of the coming of winter as is 

 Winsome Bluebird's that spring will soon be here." 



Peter could hardly wait for the coming of the 

 Black Shadows, and just as soon as they had crept 

 out over the Green Meadows he started for the 

 Big River. He knew just where to go, because he 

 knew that Honker and his friends would rest and 

 spend the night in the same place they had stopped 

 at the year before. He knew that they would re- 

 main out in the middle of the Big River until the 

 Black Shadows had made it quite safe for them 

 to swim in. He reached the bank of the Big River 

 just as sweet Mistress Moon was beginning to 

 throw her silvery light over the Great World. 

 There was a sandy bar in the Great River at this 

 point, and Peter squatted on the bank just where 

 this sandy bar began. 



It seemed to Peter that he had sat there half the 



night, but really it was only a short time, before 



he heard a low signal out in the Black Shadows 



which covered the middle of the Big River. It was 



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