OVERTURE BY THE BIRDS 3 



" What is all this trouble about ? " asked the Martin 

 in his soft rich voice. u I live ten miles further up 

 country, and only pass here twice a year, so that I do 

 not know the latest news. Why must you leave the 

 farm ? It seems to be a charming place for Bird People. 

 I see a little box under the barn eaves that would make 

 me a fine house." 



" It is a delightful place for us," replied the Barn 

 Swallow; "but now the House People who own the 

 farm are coming back to live here themselves, and 

 everything is turned topsy-turvy. They should have 

 asked us if we were willing for them to come. Bird 

 People are of a much older race than House People 

 anyway ; it says so in their books, for I heard Rap, the 

 lame boy down by the mill, reading about it one day 

 when he was sitting by the river." 



All the other birds laughed merrily at this, and the 

 Martin said, "Don't be greedy, Brother Barney; those 

 people are quite welcome to their barns and houses, 

 if they will only let us build in their trees. Bird 

 People own the whole sky and some of our race dive in 

 the sea and swim in the rivers where no House People 

 can follow us." 



" You may say what you please," chattered poor 

 unhappy Barney, " everything is awry. The Wrens 

 always built behind the window-blinds, and now these 

 blinds are flung wide open. The Song Sparrow nested 

 in the long grass under the lilac bushes, but now it is 

 all cut short ; and they have trimmed away the nice 

 mossy branches in the orchard where hundreds of the 

 brothers built. Besides this, the Bluebird made his 

 nest in a hole in the top of the old gate post, and what 



