JUNE. 



WHAT THE BIRDS SAY. 



June 5. If you would see much of bird-life you 

 must understand what the birds say, and at this season, 

 when their minds are full of emotions and excite- 

 ment in love-making, nesting, and taking care of 

 inexperienced children they have many things to 

 say. Passing between our old barn and the pond, 

 for instance, you may hear a wagtail, which has 

 perched on the wire fence that keeps the cattle from 

 the swans' nesting-place, utter an insistent note 

 quite different from his ordinary call. He is telling 

 his wife to sit close on her nest, because there is a 

 man wandering about. By walking in different 

 directions and listening carefully to the anxious 

 bird, you can play with him that old children's game, 

 making him call out, " Warmer ! warmer ! " as you 

 advance in the right direction. But, as you happen 

 to know all about the nest which is built under the 

 axle of a broken-down cart behind the barn, you 

 need not agitate him. 



WARNING THE WIFE. 



Were it not for the pestilent human habit (as 

 it would seem to the wagtail if he understood it) 

 of drawing conclusions from our own and others' 



