CHAPTER IX 



BIRDS THAT KEEP ORDER 



BESIDES the particularly unscrupulous birds 

 that go about imposing on others, taking 

 away their well-earned food, and impudently 

 giving them their greedy, ill-mannered children 

 to bring up, there are here and there others of a 

 much better nature than the ordinary kinds, 

 who make it their business to keep order 

 among the rest of the feathered world. You 

 can notice this even in the poultry-yard ; if 

 a fight arises among the hens or the young 

 cockerels, the master cock of the yard comes 

 up and puts a stop to the disturbance, letting 

 them see very plainly that if there is going to 

 be any fighting done where he is, it is he that 

 is going to do it. But since the cock has 

 generally a large family to rule over, it is 

 natural after all that he should take an 

 interest in keeping them in order, and, no 

 doubt, such a high-spirited bird as he is 



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