30 What Birds Have Done With Me 



and when he picked it up, Oh, cruel spite! it 

 was a Bohemian Wax-wing: he, the last of all men 

 on earth had reduced this rare and beautiful thing 

 to supper for a cat, or a bit of carrion, the day 

 after. That was unbearable, and without the least 

 knowledge of what final disposition he was to 

 make of it, he sent the body to a neighboring town 

 to a taxidermist to be mounted. What a queer no- 

 tion it is, that to some extent is in us all, that 

 penance of one kind or another will help us to 

 right a wrong, or correct a mistake. Acting as 

 an attorney for all birds, he gave an earnest ap- 

 peal to a large audience of school children to 

 spare the birds, and not till on his way to the 

 station and in front of the shop of the taxidermist, 

 did he remember that it was here where he had 

 sent the Wax-wing to be stuffed. He only had 

 a moment, and acting on impulse he ran in, paid 

 for the work, took out his card across which was 

 printed in heavy type, "A friend of the Birds," 

 and above his name wrote, "Killed by the donor 

 January 13, 1913," and ordered it sent up to the 

 School Collection of stuffed birds. Even after 

 he had thought it over, he said to himself, "Yes, 

 I richly deserve to have Mr. Turvey-drop's for- 

 eign cousin announce to all those children that I 

 am a hypocrite," but after sleeping on it, he whis- 

 pered to himself, on waking, u Being a Bohemian 

 Wax-wing, perhaps he will make the announce- 

 ment in French or German, and not in English." 



